


ople Mineah Hubbard 




Madame de Segur 


LTranslated by I 

JULIA OLCOTT 

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Happy Surprises 

































SOPHIE SAID GOOD-BYE HURRIEDLY 






























































































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Copyright, 1929 
Frances Jenkins Olcott 
CHICAGO, U. S. A. 


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Printed in the U. S. A. 

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THE TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE 
Today, the great oceans of the world, instead 
of separating Nations, are drawing them always 
closer together. Never again can Nations be 
strangers to one another. 

The happy, human child-nature, too, is the 
same the wide world over; and so we hope that 
these French girls and boys, who come to us in 
English dress, may receive the friendliest of wel¬ 
comes from our children. 


Julia Olcott. 


Introduction 

It is too often believed in America that French litera¬ 
ture is “for adults only ,” and that it is lacking in juvenile 
fiction. That such an opinion should have been generally 
accepted may be due to the fact, that too few of the best 
children s stories in French have been made available in 
this country, or that they have come here only after passing 
through other European countries, as for instance the 
many inimitable fairy stories such as “Sleeping Beauty,” 
“Red Riding Hood” and “Hop o’ My Thumb” which 
owe their literary charm to Charles Perrault, and are 
often attributed to other writers . 

During the second part of the last century , two story¬ 
tellers gave great delight to millions of young readers, and 
incidentally to older ones: Jules Verne and Madame de 
Segur . Jules Verne's “Voyages Extraordinaires” are 
known over the entire world; Madame de Segur s repu¬ 
tation, however, has been limited almost entirely to France . 

Sophie Rostopschine (1799-187U) was the daughter of 
Count Feodor Rostopschine, governor of Moscow, who is 
said to have given the orders for the burning of that city 
when Napoleon the First had just occupied it, thus hasten¬ 
ing the disastrous retreat of the “Grande Armee.” She 
married Count Eugene de Segur, Peer of France, and 
spent the rest of her life in France, mainly at the Chateau 


des Nouettes in Normandy, and in Paris. At the age of 
nearly sixty, and after being for many years an invalid 
and confined to a chaise-longue, she found relief for 
physical and other ills by writing stories for the enjoy¬ 
ment and profit of her grandchildren; thus, before Victor 
Hugo had published his “Art d’etre Grand Pere,” 
she had put into practice “V Art d’etre Grand Mere.” 

The success of her first book Nouveaux Contes de 
Fees pour les Petits Enfants (1857 ) led her to contribute 
a volume or more a year for fifteen years to the Biblio- 
theque Rose Illustree, a children s series published by 
Hachette of Paris. The volumes of that collection were 
often selected for prizes in schools, so that very few chil¬ 
dren in those days did not read one or more of Madame 
de Segurs stories. Many small hearts and minds have 
been moved by the Malheurs de Sophie, amused by the 
Memoires d’un Ane, delighted by the pranks of Un 
Bon Petit Diable, or deeply st irred by General Dourakine. 

These various stories are a succession of miniature 
dramas, presented in a way easily understood by younger 
minds. Like the Fables of good La Fontaine, they also 
aim to teach a moral, but that point as a rule is not over¬ 
stressed, even if at the end all good children are generously 
rewarded and naughty ones justly punished. Besides the 
purely imaginary adventures making up a large part of 
the stories, these show also a keen observation and por¬ 
trayal of human nature on the part of the Countess, and 
many local types of her picturesque Normandy are found 
skillfully outlined side by side with other characters for which 
she had to rely on the Russian souvenirs of her own youth. 


The pages of the present volume are largely drawn from 
Les Petites Filles Modeles (1858) and Les Vacances 
(1859), two of the earlier works of Madame de Segur. 
Preserving well the simplicity and charm of the original, 
it is to be hoped that Mrs . OlcoWs translation may prove 
as entertaining for American children as the French 
version has for French boys and girls during many years. 

In this age of machinery, of speed and sophistication, it 
may indeed prove a blessing for the young generation to 
pause awhile, to become interested in things of the past, 
to hear of other and different customs and to learn, 
indirectly perhaps and while being amused, that there is 
still an important place in a child's world for refined 
sentiments, deeds of kindness as well as of courage, and 
for the enjoyment of the simple life. 

Louis Auguste Loiseaux 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 


Page 


MARGUERITE—The First Surprise. 15 

THE BIRTHDAY FLOWERS—The Second Surprise. . . 25 

HOW SOPHIE CAME TO STAY—A Big Surprise. 38 

NUT-SHELLS—A Bright Surprise. 46 

A PICNIC-WALK—The White Cottage Surprise. 56 

LOST IN A TREE—A Wild Animal Surprise. 69 

THE HAPPY HURELS—Their Surprise. 80 

BOYS AND SUMMER-HOUSES-Several Surprises. . . 89 

THE MAN IN THE WOODS—Lucie’s Big Surprise . ... 105 

THE WAX DOLL—The Sun’s Queer Surprise. 116 

STRAWBERRIES RIPE—A Brave Surprise. 128 

CANDIED FRUITS—A Sweet Surprise. 139 

SAVAGES AHOY—The Biggest and Best Surprise 
of All. 


154 













“THIS ONE IS ALL RIGHT,” SAID THE MAN 















































































































MARGUERITE 
The First Surprise! 

In all France—yes in all the world—there 
never lived two dearer little sisters than 
Camilla and Madeleine de Fleurville. 

They never spoke a cross word to each 
other. Camilla loved to play. Picnics and 
parties on the lawn were her delight. And 
often when she awoke in the morning, she 
would say to herself: 

“O! I wish I might dance and sing all day 
long!” 

Madeleine loved to keep house for her own 

15 










Happy Surprises 

dolls, and to make their pretty dresses. She 
was always busy, for she took care of Ca¬ 
milla’s dolls, too. 

'Poor dears!” she said. "They have only 
one dress apiece, and their pillowcases have 
no ruffles. I must adopt them!” And so she 

did. 

One morning when Camilla was standing 
by the window, longing to be out in the sun¬ 
shine, she exclaimed: 

“Madeleine! It is perfectly lovely out of 
doors. Suppose we take a walk.” 

“O yes! I’ll be glad to go. If you call Lis- 
ette, I’ll get Beauty,” and Madeleine ran for 
her pet doll. 

Lisette was the children’s nurse, and was 
always ready to please them. 

“Where shall we go?” asked Lisette. 

“Let’s go to the highroad to watch the 
carriages pass, shall we, Madeleine?” said 
Camilla. 

Lisette hesitated. “We must be very care¬ 
ful if we go there, said she. “The men are 
working on the road, and have left a deep 
ditch. Perhaps if we wait till to-morrow, 
they will have filled it in.” 


16 





Marguerite 

No, no! Lisette! Let’s go now!” cried 
Camilla. “We’ll keep on the grass. Come, 
Madeleine!” 

Lisette was willing. They all went down 
the broad path to the highroad. Lisette 
pushed open the iron gate, and they stepped 
out on the grassy bank that sloped to the 
ditch. 

“Don’t slip, children,” warned Lisette. 
“The men haven’t yet carried away all the 
stones.” 

“We’ll take care that nothing happens to 
Beauty,” said Madeleine. 

Soon they found a pleasant spot to stand 
on, and a safe bed of grass for the doll. No 
carriages were in sight, but before the chil¬ 
dren could feel disappointed, Lisette raised 
her finger. 

“Listen! I hear something.” 

“Isn’t some one calling?” asked Madeleine. 

As she spoke a carriage drawn by two 
frightened horses came dashing around a 
bend in the road. The driver was trying to 
hold them in. A lady and a little girl were 
in the carriage, and the lady had thrown her 
arm around the child. 

17 






Happy Surprises 

“Help! Help!” they were screaming. 

Suddenly the horses made a sharp turn, 
threw the carriage into the ditch, and then 
broke away and went galloping down the 
road. 

Camilla and Madeleine were too terrified 
to move. There were no more cries for help. 

“O the poor people!” exclaimed Lisette. 
“They must be killed. Don’t cry, Miss Made¬ 
leine, perhaps they are only too frightened 
to call any more. I’ll try to open the carriage 
door myself.” 

Just then two workmen came hurrying up. 
“Can we help?” they asked. 

“Please—please—open the carriage door!” 
implored Lisette. “A lady and a little girl are 
in there. I’m afraid they are killed.” 

One of the men forced open the door. 

“The little one is all right. See, she is look¬ 
ing straight at me!” he said, and he lifted her 
out. 

“Take her up on the bank,” said Lisette. 
“And, Miss Camilla, if you don’t mind sitting 
on the ground, we’ll lay her on the grass, and 
she can rest her head in your lap.” 

“There—that’s all right,” said the man, 


18 





Marguerite 


laying the little girl down. “I’ll go back and 
help care for the lady. There’s nothing the 
matter with this one.” And he hurried away. 

The little girl, who heard a strange voice, 
was startled. She raised her head and looked 
around. 

“Mother! I want my Mother! Where is 
my Mother?” 

“That good man is gone to take care of 
your Mother,” said Camilla kissing her softly. 
“You’ll stay a little while with me and my 
sister, won’t you?” 

“No! No! I want Mother! The bad horses 
ran away with my Mother!” 

Madeleine, who was kneeling beside her 
and stroking her gently, said: 

“O no, dear! The bad horses ran away 
alone. They didn’t carry away your Mother. 
As soon as you are rested, we’ll take a beauti¬ 
ful walk and find her. Won’t you like that?” 

The little girl was an affectionate child. 
She was so won by the kind words and ways 
of Camilla and Madeleine and by their sweet 
faces bending over her, that she would have 
gone with them anywhere. 

“Lisette has run home,” said Camilla. 


19 






Happy Surprises 

“She will tell our Mothers that we are 
coming, and we will walk slowly.” 

They began to walk towards the house, 
sitting down every few minutes to rest. They 
were afraid that the little girl might be tired. 

“Now will you tell us what your name is?” 
asked Madeleine. 

“My name is Marguerite.” 

“And what is your Mother’s name?” 

“Her name is Mother.” 

“Yes, but what is her other name?” 

“O yes, her name is Mother.” 

“The servants don’t call her Mother, do 
they?” asked Madeleine. 

“O no, they say Madame.” 

“Yes dear,—but Madame who?” 

“No,” corrected Marguerite, “not Madame 
Who—only Madame.” 

Never mind, Madeleine,” whispered Ca¬ 
milla. She is too little. She doesn’t under¬ 
stand. But, now. Marguerite, tell us where 
you were going, when those bad horses made 
you fall into the ditch.” 

“1 was going to see my aunt. I don’t like 
my aunt, she’s cross. I want to stay with 
Mother and with you.” 


20 





Marguerite 

She was holding Camilla’s hand as she 
spoke, and she lifted it to her lips and kissed 
it. Then she looked at Camilla and Madeleine 
so sweetly, that they could not help hugging 
her. 

“And what are your names?” she asked. 

“I am Camilla, and my sister is Made¬ 
leine.” 

“Then you will be my little mothers, won’t 
you? Mother Camilla and Mother Made¬ 
leine! You won’t be my aunts, will you?” 

“No, indeed!” Camilla said. 

And Madeleine laid her doll in Margue¬ 
rite’s arms, adding: 

“See! You may have Beauty to keep for 
your own child. But here we are at home, 
and there is Lisette.” 

Lisette, the maid, was always glad to have 
something fresh to tell. This time she was 
running fast, for she could hardly wait to say 
all she knew. 

“The men brought the lady here, and I 
walked beside her. She isn’t badly hurt. 
The Doctor says a shock like that would 
make any woman faint. Her name is Madame 
de Rosbourg. It was engraved on her silver- 
21 




Happy Surprises 

mounted bag that was in the carriage, and 
marked on the trunks strapped to the back of 
it. She is asking for Marguerite this minute. 
Come on, all of you!” 

The three little girls followed Lisette up 
the wide stairs and through the hall that led 
to the guest room. There the lady was lying 
on a couch, and Madame de Fleurville was 
sitting beside her. 

Camilla and Madeleine stayed in the door¬ 
way, while Marguerite tip-toed in and stood 
close to her mother. 

“Poor Mother! Does your head ache?” 
she whispered. 

“Yes, dear, very badly.” 

“Then I’ll stay with you all the time.” 

“O no, dear, go with your little friends. 
They are so kind to let you stay with them.” 

“Yes, Mother, they are so good. Madeleine 
gave me her doll, and they are not my friends 
at all—they are my little mothers.” 

Madame de Rosbourg smiled and closed 
her eyes, and Madame de Fleurville said 
gently: 

“Come back by and by, my child. But now 

22 




Marguerite 

go with your little mothers so that your 
grown-up mother may sleep and get well.” 

Marguerite kissed her mother, and ran 
away with Camilla and Madeleine, clasping 
a hand of each. 

‘‘Come to our playroom. You may play 
with any toy you like,” said Camilla. 

But when Marguerite came to the play¬ 
room, she did not know what to choose. 

“Oh! Oh!—the darling dolls—there’s one 
as big as I—and here are two more! How 
pretty they are! That one in bed is sick just 
like Mother!—and the sweet little dog! He 
looks alive! How thick his hair is! And—Oh! 
Oh! Oh!-—just look at the lovely dishes and 
cups and spoons and forks and knives! And 
the wardrobe with all those dresses and shoes 
and stockings! And the bus full of passen¬ 
gers! They all have their hats on!” 

“Come! We’ll make the bus go!” she ex¬ 
claimed, dragging it into the garden. 

And Camilla and Madeleine, as they 
watched her running through the paths and 
over the grass, were as happy as Marguerite 
herself—till—till—the bus turned over! The 
dolls tumbled out on each other, and the hats 


23 






Happy Surprises 

flew everywhere. Poor little Marguerite 
wrung her hands. 

“What shall I do? I’ve broken your bus! 
I’ll never do it again!’’ 

“Don’t cry,’’ said Camilla. “We’ll open 
the door and put the travelers all back with 
their hats on. Mother will have another glass 
set in the windows.’’ 

Things were quickly in order; Marguerite 
was comforted and began to play with the 
bus again, but very carefully. 

Evening came. And after Lisette had un¬ 
dressed their tired little guest and tucked her 
snugly into bed, Camilla and Madeleine sat 
beside her till her eyes were shut. 

Then Madeleine whispered: 

“Camilla—now we know just how Mother 
put us to sleep!’’ 



24 







^nMniaaft 






THE BIRTHDAY FLOWERS 
The Second Surprise! 

Several weeks passed. Marguerite and her 
mother were still at Fleurville. Then one day 
the Doctor said to Madame de Rosbourg: 

“I can say good-bye to you now, for you 
are perfectly well. You do not need me any 
more,” and he departed. 

Now Madame de Fleurville had noticed 
that as the patient grew stronger, she became 
sadder. The day after the Doctor was gone, 
she found her in tears. 


25 









Happy Surprises 

“Dear friend,” exclaimed Madame de 
Fleurville, “tell me what is the matter. Vl^hy 
are you so unhappy?” 

“It is because I must go away from you. 
Nobody was ever kind to me in my life except 
my husband. When I lost him, I lost my only 
friend. You have been another friend—so 
unspeakably kind—and now I must leave 
you.” 

“But why should you leave me?” Madame 
de Fleurville answered very quickly and very 
earnestly. “Why cannot we live together? 
Your little Marguerite is perfectly happy with 
my children. I do not know what they will 
do without her. Why not stay with us?” 

Madame de Rosbourg leaned back in her 
chair. She was too surprised and happy for 
words. 

“We should be too much trouble,” was all 
she could murmur. 

“Not at all—you will be no trouble. I am 
very lonely since my husband died in the 
war, five years ago. I have lived all alone. It 
is only since I have known you, that I have 
been really happy. It seems as if we were 
made to live together. The ship your husband 


26 



The Birthday Flowers 

sailed in has never been heard from, and 
there seems no hope. That is settled, is it 
not—you will stay?” added Madame de 
Fleurville, holding out her hand. 

Madame de Rosbourg took the hand in 
both of her own. 

“It is settled!” said she. And this time she 
was not crying, she was smiling. 

“How happy the children will be! I must 
tell them,” and Madame de Fleurville hurried 
out to find them. 

They were helping Marguerite to make a 
scrap-book. Madame de Fleurville sat down 
among them like another girl. 

“I have something to tell you—a surprise 
so good that you will never guess what it is! 
Just listen. Marguerite and her mother are 
never going away from us.” 

Camilla and Madeleine dropped their scis¬ 
sors and paste. 

“Do you mean, Mother, that they will stay 
with us always?” 

It seemed too good to be true! 

Marguerite threw her arms around Ma¬ 
dame de Fleurville’s neck. Madame de Fleur¬ 
ville held her close, while she said: 


27 





Happy Surprises 

“Now listen, children. Marguerite is much 
younger than you—she is not even seven 
years old! You must always give her good 
advice and set her a good example.” 

“Of course, Mother!” said Camilla. “We 
shall bring her up just as you brought us up. 
Are we not her little mothers? I’ll teach her 
to read and write, and Madeleine will teach 
her to sew and keep things tidy. Won’t you, 
Madeleine?” 

“Yes, indeed! But she is such a dear, she 
will never be naughty.” 

“Oh, I’ll always be good! I’ll do everything 
you tell me to,” cried Marguerite. 

“Then, Marguerite,” said Camilla, “will 
you go into the garden now? You’ll be sick 
if you don’t breathe fresh air, and you’ll lose 
your red cheeks.” 

“O little Mother Camilla! Please let me 
stay with you. I love you so much.” 

But Camilla led her to the door, saying: 

“You have promised to do everything we 
ask. Madeleine has asked you three times to 
take a walk in the garden, and each time 
you have said, ‘Wait a minute.’ You may 
come back in half an hour.” 


28 




The Birthday Flowers 

Marguerite looked beseechingly at Made¬ 
leine, who did not raise her head. Marguerite 
saw that she must obey. But she went very 
slowly. 

Madame de Fleurville had given her a 
little watch that was once Camilla’s. Mar¬ 
guerite always wore it. Now she kept look¬ 
ing at it and counting the minutes. 

“Oh, how long it takes to make half an 
hour!” she whispered. “I don’t see why Ca¬ 
milla made me come here. Madeleine would 
have let me stay. She always lets me do what 
I want. How I love Madeleine! But I love 
Camilla too. They are so good to me! I 
wish I could do something for them. I know! 
I know what! I’ll sweep their flower-garden 
and make it clean.” 

But when she came to their garden, she 
thought of something else—something so 
much better that she was enchanted. 

“How many flowers there are in their 
garden! And how beautiful! I’ll pick them 
all. They will make a bouquet for their room. 
How sweet it will smell! And how glad they 
will be!” 


29 




Happy Surprises 

She gathered up the hem and the corners 
of her smock. 

“This will make a splendid bag. If I hold 
it tight, I can’t lose a flower. Not one will 
shake out. I shall pick everything!” 

And she did, seizing buds and blossoms, 
stems and all. 

“I’ll press them down good and hard. Oh, 
how pleased they’ll be!” 

Never was Marguerite happier than when 
she ran to Camilla and Madeleine. 

“Look, Camilla! Look, Madeleine! See 
what I’ve brought. I got them on purpose 
for you.” 

They laughed when they saw the crushed 
flowers that Marguerite was taking by hand¬ 
fuls out of her bag. 

“Where did you get them, Marguerite?” 

“In your garden, every one!” 

“In our garden? Do you mean that you 
got those flowers in our garden?” cried Ca¬ 
milla and Madeleine together. 

“Yes, I got every one of them there, and 
the buds too.” 

Camilla and Madeleine looked at each 
other. For weeks they had been caring for 

30 





The Birthday Flowers 




••SEE, I HAVE PICKED ALL YOUR FLOWERS,” SAID MARGUERITE 


those flowers, and now they were gone! They 
had not the heart to scold Marguerite, who 
had come so joyfully to make them happy. 
But the little girl saw that something was 
wrong. They did not give her the thanks and 
kisses she had expected. 

**1 thought you would be so glad! she 

cried. 

“You have made us very sorry, answered 
Camilla. “We were keeping those flowed 
for Mother’s birthday, the day after tomor- 


31 









Happy Surprises 

row. Now we have nothing to give her. But 
don’t cry, dear,” she added. “We know you 
meant to make us happy, and we’ll not scold 
you. Don’t cry any more! We are not angry, 
we love you.” And Camilla said what she 
could to comfort her. 

“You are so good to me! I have made you 
sorry when I meant to make you glad. I’ll 
never do it again — never — never! Oh, 
Mother!” 

Madame de Rosbourg stood in the door¬ 
way astonished to see her little daughter 
crying like a baby in Camilla’s arms. 

“Marguerite! What is the matter? Have 
you been naughty?” 

“Oh, no, Madame!” answered Madeleine 
quickly. “We are only trying to comfort 
her.” 

“But why are you comforting her? What 
has happened?” 

“Because—because—” Madeleine hesitat¬ 
ed. She did not know just what to say, and 
Camilla added: 

“We are comforting her because—” here 
she too hesitated. 


32 




The Birthday Flowers 

“Marguerite, tell me yourself what is the 
matter.” 

“O, Mother! I have been naughty. But I 
didn’t mean to be. 1 picked all the flowers in 
their garden. I didn’t leave one for their 
Mother’s birthday. And they didn’t scold me 
as Aunt Jeanne does. They kissed me! I am 
sorry. Oh, I am so sorry!” 

And Marguerite hid her face on Camilla’s 
shoulder. 

Her mother did not reply, she seemed to 
be thinking. Then she said: 

“Children dear, I am in a desperate hurry, 
and I cannot wait to talk. As soon as I come 
back, you must tell me more about it. I shall 
be gone only a little while.” 

Then she called the coachman. 

“Peter, I want you to take me to the florist 
in Moulins.” 

Peter was very prompt. 

“Yes, Madame, we’ll be there in no time. 
It isn’t quite a mile away.” 

Moulins was a pretty little village, and 
there Madame de Rosbourg found the florist 
and the flowers. 


33 






Happy Surprises 


“I will take all these,” she said, pointing to 
the finest, gayest flowering plants. “I want 
them sent to Fleurville this evening after 
dark, and planted in the children’s garden 
for a surprise.” 

“It shall be done, Madame! I’ll bring them 
at sundown, and plant them myself.” 

“I’ll see that it’s done all right,” declared 
Lisette when she heard the secret. “The poor 
children will be so glad they’ll jump into the 
moon.” 

While Madame de Rosbourg was gone to 
Moulins, the children ran to their garden 
hoping to find flowers enough to make a little 
bouquet. Not a single one was left. 

“We’ll buy plants that will bloom later,” 
said Madeleine. 

“Take my money to buy them! I have 
four francs,” exclaimed Marguerite. And she 
would have rushed into the house for her 
savings, but Camilla said: 

“O no, dear! It would be better to give it 
to poor blind Adela in the village.” 

“If you don’t have enough yourself, you’ll 
take mine, won’t you? Please say you will!” 
begged Marguerite. 


34 





The Birthday Flowers 



MADAME DE ROSBOURG BUYS SOME FLOWERS 


“Yes, indeed. But don’t think any more 
about it. Let’s get ready for the new flowers.’’ 

Then all three began to work. Marguerite 
was gathering stalks and stems in her little 
wheelbarrow and rolling them away, Ca¬ 
milla and Madeleine were digging and raking, 
when Madame de Rosbourg came back. 

“Such busy little gardeners! Flowers will 
bloom here again.’’ And she nodded and 
smiled. “But you are tired, and so am I. Let 
us rest under this chestnut tree while you tell 
me what flowers you are going to plant.” 

The next morning when the children went 
into the garden, Camilla walked faster than 
the others, and was the first to reach the 
flower-bed. She stood still. 

35 




Happy Surprises 



It was full of flowers! 

How did they get there? 

“Madeleine! Marguerite! Come! Come!” 

They came, but they did not stand still or 
keep still. O no! Such dancing about! Such 
astonishment! Such rejoicing! 

They called their mothers. They called 
Lisette. Then they began to wonder. 

“How did those flowers grow in one 
night?” 

“I know,” said Marguerite solemnly, “They 
did not grow at all. An Angel brought them.” 

“You are right, dear child,” answered 
Madame de Fleurville. “Your angel mother 
brought them to comfort you, and to thank 


36 





The Birthday Flowers 

Camilla and Madeleine for loving you too 
much to scold you.” 

That was indeed a good day! But the 
birthday was even better. 

“Never can we forget this birthday,” said 
the three little girls—for then they wore 
wreaths of roses and sang and danced while 
they presented bouquets, large and beautiful, 
to the two mothers. 



37 







HOW SOPHIE CAME TO STAY 
A Big Surprise! 

One day Madame de Fleurville said to 
Madame de Rosbourg: 

“I don’t think I have ever told you about 
Madame Fichini. She is the widow of an old 
friend, whose first wife I liked very much. 
The first wife was drowned in returning from 
America, and left a little girl. I have never 
cared for Madame Fichini, this second wife, 
but for the sake of my friend’s child, I have 
kept in touch with her. She has just invited 


38 





How Sophie Came to Stay 

us all for dinner today. I can’t imagine why. 
You’ll come with me, won’t you?” 

“Of course I’ll be glad to go, for I am 
curious. Children, would you like to go, too?” 

“Yes, indeed. Mother! We all love Sophie, 
and we are sorry for her. She never has any 
good times as we do.” 

“I wish Beauty could go, but she isn’t in¬ 
vited,” sighed Marguerite. 

Madeleine laughed. “Never mind, she’ll be 
safe at home. She can’t fall and break her 
nose.” 

“But she ought to have been invited just 
the same, for she never goes anywhere.” 

It was a beautiful afternoon. They enjoyed 
the drive, and Madame Fichini with Sophie 
was waiting for them on the terrace. 

“I am delighted to see you,” she said. “The 
children may stay out here, while we mothers 
go inside and talk about Sophie. I have to 
leave France for a few months, and I want 
to lend her to you, if you will take her. Let 
us go inside and I shall tell you about it.” 

And she led the way into the drawing 
room. She was a very excitable little woman, 
and she said a great deal in a short time. 

39 




Happy Surprises 


“What’s that your mother said, Sophie?” 
asked Marguerite. 

“Does she want to give you to Mother?” 
asked Camilla. 

They both spoke together, and Madeleine 
added: 

“Where is she going?” 

“I don’t know,” said Sophie. “A few days 
ago she said I must stay here with the maids 
while she visits in Italy. Perhaps she is going 
there now.” 

“Shall you be sorry if she goes away?” 
asked Camilla. 

“Not if I can stay with you. I get so lone¬ 
some here—I have nobody to play with but 
the cat, and she can’t talk.” 

Sophie wiped her eyes and the little girls 
gathered around her. They kissed and com¬ 
forted her, and in ten minutes they were all 
playing hide and seek, Sophie the gayest of 
the band. Presently she exclaimed: 

“Oh! I am so thirsty.” 

“Why don’t you take a drink?” asked 
Marguerite. 

“Because Mother never lets me drink be¬ 
tween meals.” 


40 




How Sophie Came to Stay 

“Can’t you have a drink of cold water even 
when you are thirsty?” 

“No, not till dinner time, and then only one 
glass.” 

“Oh, poor Sophie!” exclaimed Marguerite. 
“Poor, poor Sophie!” 

In the meanwhile, Madame Fichini was 
saying to Madame de Fleurville: 

‘I feel that 1 am asking too much. But I 
must leave immediately and have not time to 
find a suitable boarding-school for Sophie.” 

“You do not need to find one,” said Ma¬ 
dame de Fleurville. “We shall be delighted 
to have Sophie with us, and I am sure she 
will be happy with the children.” 

“I can’t thank you enough! How soon may 
I send her?” 

“We shall be glad to take her home with us 
this evening,” answered Madame de Fleur¬ 
ville. 

Madame Fichini clasped her hands. 

“You are too kind! Too kind! I can’t tell 
you how grateful I am.” She hurried to the 
long window that opened on the terrace. 

“Sophie! Sophie! Come here! Come here!” 

41 





Happy Surprises 

Sophie came timidly. The other little girls 
followed her. 

“You are going away this evening.” 

Sophie’s face brightened. 

“Oh! Oh!” she cried. 

“Madame de Fleurville has invited you to 
visit her, while I am gone. It will be much 
better than staying with the servants. I hope 
that you will be very good and very obedient. 
Now come, let us all go in to dinner.” 

The children were quiet while Madame 
Fichini talked of her Italian journey. 

“When I come home, I shall invite all the 
neighbors to hear about my Italian trip. It 
will be charming!” 

After dinner, the children went to the 
nursery to pack up Sophie’s doll and its ward¬ 
robe. It was not a pretty doll, and they de¬ 
cided to leave it at home. 

“You may play with one of mine,” said 
Camilla. 

Afterwards Madame de Fleurville asked 
that her carriage might be ordered. 

“Carriage!” echoed Madame Fichini. “It is 
not yet eight o’clock.” 


42 





How Sophie Came to Stay 
Yes, but we ought to be at home before 
dark.” 

“Why should you go before dark? The 
road is fine and there will be moonlight.” 

“The children are too young to sit up late, 
and I am afraid that they will be tired.” 

“But you know, Madame, that this is the 
last evening which we can spend together. 
The children may sit up for once, it won’t 
hurt them. You agree with me, Madame de 
Rosbourg?” 

“We are both careful that the children 
should keep early hours,” answered Madame 
de Rosbourg. 

All the same they stayed a little longer. 

Then the carriage came. The children were 
busy putting on their hats and chattering like 
little magpies. Sophie was the first to reach 
the door. She was afraid that they might 
forget her. It was a jolly party that was 
packed into the big carriage. 

‘ ‘Good-bye children! Good-bye everybody! ’ ’ 
called Madame Fichini, waving her hand. 

They all called back, “Good-bye! Good¬ 
bye!” as they drove off. 


43 




Happy Surprises 

They were well on their way when they 
heard a loud shout: 

“Stop! Stop!” 

“That’s to take me back!” thought Sophie. 

The driver reined in his horse. 

A footman came running up and opened 
the carriage door. He was panting, he had 
run so fast. 

“Madame says—that she forgot—to put— 
Miss Sophie’s clothes—in the carriage. She 11 
send them tomorrow—unless Miss wants to 
come home.” 

“Thank you! Thank you, Antoine!” ex¬ 
claimed Sophie, and in her excitement she 
held out both hands to the man. “I am sorry 
you hurried so, but I am going right on. 
Good-bye! Good-bye! ’ ’ 

Madame de Fleurville laughed. 

“Thank Madame Fichini, Antoine, and tell 
her we are already so far on our way that 
we shall not stop. Miss Sophie may wear 
Miss Camilla’s clothes till her own arrive.” 

Then the carriage drove on. 

“Won’t that be fun!” cried the children. 
“One day Sophie can be Camilla, and the 
next day she can be Madeleine.” 


44 





How Sophie Came to Stay 


And it was fun when in the morning 
Sophie appeared at breakfast dressed in Ca¬ 
milla’s blue dress and ribbon bow. She felt 
queer too, not at all like Sophie, when she sat 
down with Camilla and Madeleine and Mar¬ 
guerite at the breakfast table in the nursery. 



45 








NUT-SHELLS 
A Bright Surprise! 

For more than a year, Sophie lived with 
Camilla and Madeleine. And, though she did 
not hear from Madame Fichini, she was 
happy in her new home. 

Madame de Fleurville and Madame de 
Rosbourg loved their children, but they did 
not spoil them. They taught them to be kind 
and loving to one another, and Sophie grew 
to be like them, a sweet generous child. 

She was reading one morning, when Ma¬ 
dame de Fleurville came into the room hold¬ 
ing an open letter. 


46 




Nut-Shells 


“This is from your mother,” she said. 

Sophie sprang up, then sank back. She did 
not speak, but she trembled. Madame de 
Fleurville saw it. 

“Don’t be afraid,” said she. “Your mother 
is not coming to take you away, for she is 
married to Count Blagowski. You are never 
going to live with her again. She asks me to 
put you in a boarding-school.” 

Here Sophie grew pale, and looked be¬ 
seechingly at Madame de Fleurville, who 
smiled and added: 

“Unless I prefer to keep you with me! 
What do you say to that? Will you go to the 
best boarding-school in Paris? Or will you 
stay here and be my third daughter—Ca¬ 
milla’s and Madeleine’s sister?” 

Sophie could not speak. She was crying 
with joy. 

“I know what you will choose!” smiled 
Madame de Fleurville. “I am sure that you 
will not leave those who love you. You will 
always live with us. Isn’t that so?” 

“Oh, yes! Oh, yes! Please keep me with 
you and love me and let me love you, as if 
you were my real born mother. I will try 

47 



Happy Surprises 

with my whole heart to deserve—” she 
stopped suddenly. 

“What is the matter, my child?” 

“I hadn’t remembered that it will cost a 
great deal to keep me.” 

“Don’t be troubled about that. You have 
enough money of your own to pay your ex¬ 
penses a hundred times over. I can tell you 
something that will please you—you will 
have enough money all your life long to be 
able to help the poor and needy.” 

Sophie kissed Madame de Fleurville and 
ran to announce the grand news. Such rejoic¬ 
ings! They took hands and danced around. 
Then they sang till Lisette came running. 

“What are you doing? I have never heard 
such a racket. What is it for?” 

“O Lisette! If you only knew, you would 
dance too. Sophie is going to live with us 
always. Madame Fichini is married to Count 
Blagowski. Ha! Ha! Hurrah!” and Mar¬ 
guerite drew Lisette into the circle. 

Then there was a noise that brought the 
servants one after another to know what it 
meant. All went away glad, for they liked 
Sophie. At last the little girls were tired 

48 





Nut-Shells 



THEY DANCED TOGETHER MERRILY 


enough to rest; Lisette was, also, but she was 
not too tired to talk. 

“Children,” she said, “don’t you know that 
when people have great celebrations they 
illuminate? Let’s celebrate for Sophie to¬ 
night.” 

“But how can we do it?” asked Camilla. 
“We need lights.” 

“We’ll make them, of course.” 

“How can we make them? With what?” 

“With English walnut shells and yellow 
wax and candlewicks.” 


49 





Happy Surprises 

“How clever you are, Lisette! And Mar¬ 
guerite threw her arms around Lisette s neck. 

Sophie, Camilla, and Madeleine almost 
smothered her with kisses, but she escaped to 
her own room. They all rushed after her, but 
they heard the door bang and the key turn. 

“Lisette! Lisette! Please open the door!” 
they cried. 

“Dear, good Lisette, open the door! We 
want to speak to you!” 

“Please, Lisette, only one more little 
dance!” 

“Lisette, won’t you let us in?—just this 
once?” 

“Just suppose you break down the door, 
while I break something else!” answered 
Lisette. 

And then they heard a noise that never 
stopped—crack—crack—crack—crack! 

“What is she doing there?” asked Sophie 
in a low voice. 

“I have an idea!” whispered Camilla. 
“Let’s go softly outside under her window 
It isn’t very high. She isn’t expecting us and 
she won’t have time to hide.” 

“That’s a good idea,” agreed Sophie. “But 

50 





Nut-Shells 

don t make a sound. Come down on tip-toe 
and don’t speak a word.” 

They went softly down, out, around the 
house, and under Lisette’s window. It was a 
little too high for them, but at a sign from 
Camilla they scrambled up the trellis which 
was fastened to the wall. In an instant their 
four heads were at the window. 

Lisette screamed and threw her apron over 
the table, but it was too late. The children 
had seen. 

“Nuts! Nuts!” they cried. “You’re crack¬ 
ing nuts for our illumination.” 

“Well, then, so long as you have found out, 
come and help with the shells.” 

Down the trellis, around the house, and up 
to Lisette’s room they ran. They worked with 
such good will that more than two hundred 
nut-shells were soon ready. 

“Good!” said Lisette. “Now I’ll tell you 
what we’ll do. In a corner of the store-room 
there’s a big chest full of tiny standards that 
were made for tapers in old days. There must 
be a thousand of them in that chest. We’ll 
bring out some and fit our shells into them. 
But first we’ll go to the kitchen and get other 


51 





Happv Surprises 



THEY PEEPED INTO LISETTE’S WINDOW 


things from Lina, and borrow a frying pan to 
melt the wax.” 

The little girls were enchanted, and quickly 
brought all that was needed. They melted 
wax, poured it into the shells and fitted them 
into the standards. 

“They are just fat little candlesticks and 
the shells fit in like tapers,” said Marguerite 
as she pressed bits of candlewick into the 
melted wax, which cooled and hardened. 


52 








Nut-Shells 


“We’ve nothing more to do now,’’ Lisette 
said, “but put them outdoors wherever we can 
find places. We’ll take two of these long 
baskets that Blenda uses for starched dresses. 
It needs two to carry a basket—one of you 
for each end. I’ll go along and set out the 
candlesticks, that will take time too. It won’t 
be done in a minute! Then after dark, we’ll 
illuminate.” 

The mothers were in the drawing-room 
when the little girls carried in their baskets. 

“What have you there?” asked Madame de 
Rosbourg. 

“A celebration for Sophie, Mother. Ma¬ 
dame Fichini is married, and we are going to 
illuminate because we can keep Sophie.” 

“Those little shells will make very pretty 
torches. Where did you get them?” 

“We made them, Mother. Lisette showed 
us how and we made them. Now we are 
going to get them ready to light tonight.” 

“We will help you set them out,” said both 
mothers. 

And they enjoyed helping so that they 
said to each other, “I believe we feel as young 
as they do!” 


53 



Happy Surprises 

It seemed as if the evening would never 
come, and dinner had never been so long. But 
at last Marguerite said: 

“I see a star!" 

Then they ran out, mothers as well as chil¬ 
dren, and when their work was done and the 
wicks lighted, they stood still to admire. The 
nut-shell candlesticks were so close to each 
other that the lights made long sparkling 
chains, with here and there clusters of little 
stars. Marguerite was delighted. 

"It is like Fairyland!" she exclaimed. 

And the mothers, as they went back to the 
drawing-room, agreed: 

"It is really pretty!" 

Afterwards there were games led by Lis- 
ette—hide and seek—hunt the slipper— 
where is the queen’s ring? Through rooms 
and corners of rooms, halls, stairs, and closets 
—such screaming and laughing! Such racing 
and chasing! At last came the end of Sophie’s 
jubilee, a supper of cakes and creams and 
fruits. 

"You must come to Sophie’s supper, Lis- 
ette!" the little girls said. 

"Oh, no! No!" and Lisette shook her head. 


54 




Nut-Shells 


But they felt so sure that she was longing 
for peaches and grapes, that they coaxed her 
to the table. They heaped her plate till it 
could hold no more. Then Camilla filled a 
large paper bag. 

“This is for your little niece,” she said. 

Lisette smiled. “Thank you! Thank you, 
Miss Camilla! You are always kind.” 

That night Sophie said: 

“Do you know. Marguerite, every night 
and every morning I have prayed that I might 
never go away, and now see how I am 
answered!” 



55 






A PICNIC-WALK 
The White Cottage Surprise! 

“Let us all take a long walk,” said Madame 
de Fleurville. “The day is so bright and cool. 
Suppose we go through the woods by the 
road that passes the mill.” 

Camilla and Madeleine were delighted. 

“I don’t like to go there,” pouted Mar¬ 
guerite. “Jeanette the miller’s girl throws 
stones at everybody.” 


56 





A Picnic-Walk 


“I don’t think she will throw them, if we 
are with you,” said Madame de Fleurville. 
“We mean to make it a picnic-walk and eat 
our luncheon in the woods.” 

They had reached the mill, when Mar¬ 
guerite exclaimed: 

“There she is, peeping through the attic 
window!” 

But that was all they saw of Jeanette. 

The mothers enjoyed the quiet of the 
woods, while the children wandered on till 
they came to an old oak tree. The ground 
was covered with acorns, and the children 
were filling their pockets when they heard a 
little noise. They stopped. They listened. 

“Some one is crying. Perhaps it is Jean¬ 
ette,” and all four children darted into the 
woods. 

Behind a clump of bushes they found a 
girl. She had flung herself on the ground and 
was moaning: 

“Oh, dear! Oh, dear! What shall I do? 

“Poor thing!” whispered Madeleine. “How 
miserable she is! 

The girl raised her head and still crying 
scrambled to her feet. 


57 





Happy Surprises 


“Don’t go away. We won’t hurt you,” said 
Camilla. 

“We only want to know why you are cry¬ 
ing,” added Madeleine. 

Their voices were so gentle and full of pity, 
that the girl fell to sobbing again. Sophie and 
Madeleine almost crying themselves, begged 
her to tell them what was the matter. 

“We have been here only a month,” sobbed 
the girl. “My mother is so sick that she. can’t 
work any more. I hoped the mill people 
would buy my best dress, but they drove me 
away, and the girl there threw stones at me.” 

“That was Jeanette!” exclaimed Mar¬ 
guerite. 

“Yes! that’s what her mother called her 
when she told her to stop. I wouldn’t care if 
we had enough to eat. Mother is so sick and 
weak, and hasn’t had anything to eat since 
yesterday.” 

Camilla was shocked. 

“Nothing to eat since yesterday! And 
haven’t you had anything either?” 

“Oh, I’m not sick. Besides, I picked some 
berries on the way to the mill.” 

“Berries!” echoed Camilla. “Mother has a 


58 





A Picnic-Walk 


whole lunch basket full of rolls and plums. 
We’ll bring some to you now.” 

‘‘Yes! Yes!” exclaimed Sophie and Made¬ 
leine in one breath. And away the two ran 
to bring the basket. 

While Sophie and Madeleine were carrying 
the basket to the girl, Camilla and Marguerite 
hurried to the mothers, to explain how they 
had found the poor girl crying, and about the 
sick mother. 

“She has had nothing to eat since yester¬ 
day,” added Camilla. 

It was Madame de Fleurville’s turn to be 
shocked. 

“What suffering!” she exclaimed. “I won¬ 
der who they are. We know all the villagers. 
They must be strangers.” 

“They are, Mother. They have been here 
only a month.” 

“Come, let us see what we can do for 
them,” said Madame de Fleurville. 

They found that though Sophie and Made¬ 
leine had brought the basket, the young girl 
would not open it. 

“You must eat something, said Madame 
de Fleurville. gently. 


59 





Happy Surprises 


“If you please, may I carry it all home to 
my mother, for she is very sick?” 

“We will go with you then,” said Madame 
de Fleurville kindly, taking the basket for she 
could see that the girl had not strength even 
to lift it. “Now show us where you live, and 
tell us your name. What is your mother’s 
name?’’ 

“I am Lucie. My mother’s name is Fran- 
£oise Viret, but everybody calls her Mother 
Frigate.’’ 

“Why do they call her that?” 

“Because she is a sailor’s wife.” 

Madame de Rosbourg was interested now. 

“Where is your father? Is he not with 
you?” 

“No, Madame. That is why we are so poor. 
Father went away a long time ago. They 
say his ship was lost and everybody was 
drowned.” 

Madame de Rosbourg’s voice trembled as 
she asked: 

“On what ship did your father sail?” 

“It was Commander de Rosbourg’s ship. 
The Sybile was its name.” 

“My husband’s vessel!” cried Madame de 


60 




A Picnic-Walk 

Rosbourg controlling herself. “Poor child! 
Poor child! Take me to your mother. I must 
see her at once.” 

Lucie did not understand, but she felt that 
some good fortune was come to her mother. 
She led the way as fast as she could. 

It was a woodcutter s hut, an abandoned 
cabin so dark that Madame de Rosbourg at 
first was not able to see that a woman was 
lying on a heap of moss, and that there was 
no furniture, not even a chair or table. 

“Sit down beside your mother,” she said 
as she divided the rolls and plums. “They are 
starving,” she thought, as she watched them 
eat. But she said nothing till every crumb was 
gone. Then she explained why she was there. 

“I am the wife of Commander de Ros¬ 
bourg, and I will take care of you, Francoise. 
You need never worry about yourself or 
Lucie, for you shall have all you need. But 
now the first thing is for you to leave this 
wretched place.” 

She gave them no time to recover from 
their astonishment, or even to speak. She 
hurried to Madame de Fleurville who was 
waiting outside with the children. 

61 





Happy Surprises 

“Never in your life have you seen such 
misery! AX^ill you come with me this minute 
to look at a little cottage that is to rent? We 
passed it today. If you think that it will do 
for these people, I will rent it now. Come, 
children, 1 want you to see it. 

It was a cottage freshly painted. The White 
House, they called it afterwards. There were 
three rooms, a cellar, an attic, and a garden 
full of flowers and fruit. 

“It is just the place,” declared Madame de 
Fleurville, and Madame de Rosbourg said: 

“While I go and arrange with the owner, 
will you try to send here what they will need 
for tonight? Tomorrow, I shall get every¬ 
thing necessary.” 

Madame de Fleurville and the children 
went directly home. A pony cart for Fran- 
goise and a wagon for moving the things she 
would need for the night, were ordered. 

“We’ll collect them together all ourselves, 
and Nicaise can put them in the wagon,” said 
the little girls eagerly. 

They gathered together cups and saucers, 
casseroles, loaves of bread, dishes and a bottle 
of hair tonic, a kettle of soup and a mouse- 


62 




A Picnic-Walk 


trap, brooms, brushes and rugs, a three-pound 
roll of butter, a supply of vegetables of all 
kinds, and a basket of eggs. 

When Lisette came she laughed so long and 
so loud that Sophie and Marguerite were 
hurt. Camilla and Madeleine grew very red. 

‘Why do you laugh, Lisette? I don’t see 
anything funny in getting comforts for the 
poor woman,” said Camilla. 

“You don’t suppose that your Mother will 
send such a lot of useless things?” Lisette 
said, and she laughed again. 

“It seems to me that they are all useful,” 
said Sophie. 

“But Lisette, you are sending mattresses, 
and sheets, and pillowcases, and coverlets,” 
objected Marguerite. 

“Of course, because they need them for 
their beds. But just let me see about it,” she 
said soothingly. “Joseph! Here, Joseph!” she 
called to the boy who was waiting for orders. 
“Here, Nicaise! Come and help Joseph put 
this little stand in the wagon, and two chairs, 
and this bundle of bedding. Now a loaf of 
bread and this pat of butter. Keep it well 
wrapped up— Two glasses and two plates— 

63 





Happy Surprises 

Oh yes!—this candlestick and two candles. 
And, Nicaise, don’t take the things off the 
wagon till Madame comes and tells you where 
to put them.” 

“May we go back with Lisette, Mother? 
asked Camilla. “Then we can see Lucie and 
her mother come. How surprised they will 
be!” 

“Of course you may go, and tell Lisette to 
get whatever is needed to make a good 
supper.” 

“And may we take one of our dresses for 
Lucie, and shoes and stockings? 

“Certainly you may. Take whatever she 
needs, and a dressing-gown of mine for Fran- 
$oise. Madame de Rosbourg is going to buy 
their clothes.” 

The little girls, each carrying a parcel and 
led by Lisette with the dressing-gown over 
her arm, went gaily to the White House. 
Madame de Rosbourg was there before them. 

“Nicaise and Joseph have put everything 
in place,” she said. “Now what do you 
need?” 

“Wood to heat the soup,” said Lisette. 

“Salt to put in it,” said Camilla. 

64 




A Picnic-Walk 

“Spoons to eat it with,” said Madeleine. 

Dishes for eggs, and plates for butter,” 
said Sophie. 

“And six peach tartines,” said Marguerite. 

Lisette will go to the village and buy 
whatever is needed,” said Madame de Ros- 
bourg. 

“Yes, indeed, I will, Madame! Just wait, 
children, and I’ll be back in a jiffy-” 

She returned breathless. 

“I’ve brought it all, and a milk pitcher— 
the children forgot that—and the sugar too! 
Here’s the cart!’’ 

It stopped before the door, and Madame de 
Rosbourg and Lisette helped Frangoise into 
the house. She could not speak, but her eyes 
thanked them. When Lucie saw her mother 
in a soft bed, her face grew radiant, and she 
would have thrown herself upon her knees 
before Madame de Rosbourg. 

“No, Lucie, do not thank me,” Madame de 
Rosbourg said. “Thank the good Lord who 
led me to find you. And now do not excite 
your mother. She shall have nourishing food, 
and will soon be well again. Here is the 
soup.” 


65 




Happy Surprises 



"QUICKLYI HERE COMES FRANCOISE!” 


It was not only soup, but a whole supper! 
And when Lucie had finished eating, Mar¬ 
guerite whispered: 

“Come into the other room with us.” 

Then nobody could have told who was the 
happiest—the little girls while they were 
dressing Lucie, or Lucie when she was dressed 
and showed herself to her mother, who ex¬ 
claimed: 

“Come closer! I want to look at you. How 
pretty you are! If only your poor father could 

66 













A Picnic-Walk 


see you now.” And she fell back and buried 
her face in the pillow. 

Madame de Rosbourg tried to cheer her. 

‘‘Tomorrow, Frangoise, I will go to town to 
buy new furniture and clothing, and what¬ 
ever else you need. The children and I will 
come often to see you. If you want anything, 
you must tell us. When you are well I will 
give you work to do, but now you must eat 
and sleep and grow strong.” 

Francoise wiped her eyes. 

‘‘We shall not be cold and hungry any 
more! Sometime I shall be able to work and 
thank these dear people,” she thought, and 
was comforted. 

Then Madame de Rosbourg called the 
children, and they went home to tell how 
happy they had made Lucie and her mother. 
They talked about it with Lisette when they 
went to bed. They dreamed of it that night. 
In the morning, their first thought was to go 
to the White House. 

Madame de Fleurville went with them, for 
Madame de Rosbourg was already gone to 
town to buy what she had promised. 

Frangoise was sitting up, her bed was 

67 







Happy Surprises 

made. Lucie had borrowed a broom from a 
little neighbor, and inside and outside the 
house was clean and pleasant. 

Wood had been brought in and piled in the 
cellar, and when Madame de Fleurville had 
given the breakfast she had brought, Lucie 
began to cook it. 

The children were satisfied, and went home 
to their lessons. 

In the afternoon Madame de Rosbourg 
begged a holiday for them. The things she 
had bought were come. 

“They may help put the White House in 
order,” she said. 

“I will send Lisette,” added Madame de 
Fleurville, “for she is so clever and good 
natured.” 

When Lucie saw them all coming, she ran 
to meet them. 

“We were never so happy in all our lives, 
since father went!” she cried. “My mother 
can’t believe it. She says it is like a Fairy 
Surprise.” 


68 







LOST IN A TREE 
A Wild Animal Surprise! 

Sophie was longing to make somebody 
happy. 

“I wish I could find another poor woman 
like Fran^oise,” she said to Mother Louffray, 
the gardener’s wife. 

“If that’s all you want, Miss, you may get 
her this minute.’’ 

“Where is she? What is her name?’’ 


G9 




Happy Surprises 

“She’s down our road, and her name is 
Mother Luitain. Half the time she doesn’t 
earn enough money to buy bread and cheese. 
She isn’t a lazy woman either. She’s always 
busy, but she’s too old to work fast.’’ 

“I wish I might see her. Is she far away?” 

“No, Miss, you can be there in less than 
half an hour.” 

Sophie said no more, but she had a plan, 
and she confided it to Marguerite. After tell¬ 
ing her all she knew about Mother Luitain, 
she added: 

“We’ll take care of her always. We’ll go 
today and give her every sou that we have 
left. Next week we ll save some more.” 

“Yes indeed! I’ll go with you,” said Mar¬ 
guerite. “We’ll go this minute if Mother says 
we may.” 

Madame de Fleurville and Madame de 
Rosbourg were just leaving the house with 
Camilla and Madeleine. They heard the plan 
and were much pleased. 

“I know where Mother Luitain lives,” said 
Madame de Fleurville. “I pass her little hut 
when I am in a hurry to get to the village. I 
had no idea she was so poor. Her place is 

70 




Lost In a Tree 


always very neat. In future, you may look 
after her and make her your particular care.” 

The little girls took their pocketbooks and 
started off to find Mother Luitain. While stop¬ 
ping now and then to examine strange flowers 
and leaves, and sometimes sitting on the 
grass, they did not think of time nor notice 
that they were not keeping on the straight 
road. Instead they were crossing new paths 
and getting farther into the woods. 

Suddenly Marguerite said: 

“It seems to me that we are going very far. 
Are you sure that you know the way?” 

“Yes, Mother Louffray told me just how 
to go.” 

But Sophie herself began to feel anxious, 
when a little later Marguerite asked: 

“Shall we be there soon?” 

“We must surely be there in a few min¬ 
utes.” 

They walked on. The woods seemed to 
have no end. There was no house, no village. 

“I’m tired,” said Marguerite. 

“So am I,” said Sophie. 

“It’s long since we left, isn’t it? 

Sophie made no answer. She was too 

71 





Happy Surprises 

frightened and could not conceal her terror. 

“Suppose we go back,” proposed Mar¬ 
guerite. 

“Oh yes! Oh yes! Let’s go back.” 

“What is the matter, Sophie?” 

“We are lost!” wailed Sophie. “I don’t 
know the road. We are lost! We are lost!” 

“Lost! Lost!” echoed Marguerite. “What 
will become of us?” 

“I must have made a mistake where the 
paths cross each other. I don’t know where 
we are.” And Sophie wrung her hands. 

Marguerite was so sorry for her, that she 
forgot her own alarm and grew brave. 

“Don’t cry! We’ll find the way. We’ll go 
back exactly as we came. They’ll be worried 
about us at home, and they’ll look for us.” 

Sophie followed Marguerite’s advice and 
dried her tears. They went back as they had 
come, till they stopped where several paths 
running in different directions crossed one 
another. 

“Which is the road?” asked Marguerite. 

“I don’t know. Perhaps the one there 
where moss is growing on the tree trunks.” 

“But there are two roads with moss on the 


72 





Lost In a Tree 


trees, and I don’t remember any moss at all 
on our road. Let’s take the one that turns to 
the left.” 

They walked on. Neither spoke. Then 
Marguerite said: 

“I’m very tired.” 

“So am I,” sighed Sophie. 

“My feet hurt horribly.” 

“Then let’s sit, for I can’t walk another 
step.” 

They sat down on the ground. Marguerite 
laid her head on her knees and cried softly. 
She hoped that Sophie would not hear her, for 
Sophie had said: 

“It’s all my fault. If it had not been for 
me, you would never have come here.” 

Kind little Marguerite would have hidden 
her tears. She raised her head. 

“Let’s go on,” she said bravely. 

“What will become of us, if we have to 
stay all night in these dreadful woods?” was 
the thought of both, but neither one said it. 

“If only we could find some water!” ex¬ 
claimed Sophie. 

“There is a brook near here. I heard the 


73 




Happy Surprises 

sound just now. Come and see,” and Mar¬ 
guerite pushed through a tangle of bushes. 

Sophie followed. There indeed was a 
brook, narrow but deep, with water as clear 
as crystal, and there they drank. The sun 
was setting. Soon it would be dark. No¬ 
body came to look for them, nobody would 
think of looking so far. And now with their 
arms around each other, they sat crying to¬ 
gether. 

At last Sophie said: 

“We must go back to the place we came 
from. Perhaps some one will pass and pick 
us up.” 

“But we’ll scratch ourselves again on the 
thorns,” Marguerite objected. 

“We can’t help it. We must be found. We 
can’t stay here forever.” 

Marguerite sighed and followed Sophie, 
who said nothing but went ahead pushing 
through the bushes and thorny briers to keep 
them away from poor Marguerite. 

When they reached the road they were 
afraid to follow it, and sat down under a tree. 

Suddenly there was a creepy sound as 
though something was moving among the 

74 




Lost In a Tree 

bushes. It came nearer and Marguerite felt 
a hot breathing on the back of her neck. She 
screamed as loud as she could scream, and 
Sophie screamed louder. Then there was a 
noise like snapping twigs, and they saw an 
animal run across the path and disappear in 
the woods. 

Then came sounds as if wild beasts were 
close at hand—tramplings, gruntings, pant- 
ings. 

The branches of the tree nearly touched the 
ground. The little girls seized them and up 
they went. No two squirrels ever climbed a 
tree so quickly as they climbed that one. 
They never stopped till they were high 
enough to be more than safe. 

Then a wild boar and her family of eight 
young boars passed under the tree and went 
their way, leaving Sophie and Marguerite 
shivering and scarcely able to keep their hold 
on the branches. 

All at once they heard wheels! Wheels 
not close by—but they heard them and forgot 
everything else. 

The wheels came nearer and nearer—they 
could see the glimmer of a lantern—they 


75 




Happy Surprises 

could hear plainly a horse—the horse trotting 
and a man whistling. 

“Help! Oh, help!” they cried. 

The wheels stopped—so did the whistle, 
the driver was listening. 

“Who on earth is calling?” muttered the 
man. “I don’t see a soul.” 

Then he shouted, “Who is calling?” 

“We! We are lost in the woods! Please 
save us! Save us!” 

“Children’s voices, as true as I live!” 

Then he shouted again, “Who are you?” 

“I am Sophie!” 

“I am Marguerite. Please — please — 
please—save us!” 

“Where are you? I can’t save you, till I 
find you.” 

“We are lost in the tree. We can’t get 
down.” 

The man looked up. 

“It’s true! They must be well scared!— 
Wait a minute!—I’ll take you down.” 

Marguerite was on the nearest bough. 

“How many of you are in this nest?” he 
asked as he lifted her carefully to the ground. 

“We are only two.” 


76 





Lost In a Tree 


“Good! That won’t take long. Number 
Two, be patient and wait till I get Number 
One down.’’ 

He went slowly and put Marguerite in his 
cart, then climbed the tree for Sophie. When 
she was safe beside Marguerite he clambered 
into his own seat. 

“Now where shall I take you? Where do 
you live and how did you get here?’’ 

“We live at Fleurville—and we got lost 
when we were going to take care of old 
Mother Luitain.’’ 

“Fleurville! Then you live at the big house, 
don’t you?’’ 

“Yes, that is where we live. We are Mar¬ 
guerite de Rosbourg and Sophie Fichini.’’ 

“Oh, ho! Then you belong to that good 
Madame de Rosbourg. How did your mother 
ever let you come here alone?’’ 

“We lost our way. Is it far to Fleurville?’’ 

“I should say it is. A good six miles to the 
village, and a half mile to the big house. But 
I’ll drive fast, for your mother must be scared 
by this time. It’s lucky for you that you 
struck the wood-road, though you didn’t 
know it. You might have wandered off into 


77 



Happy Surprises 

the heart of the forest and never have been 
heard of again.” 

In less than an hour they reached Fleur- 
ville, and drove to the house. Lisette, pale 
and frightened, opened the door. 

“Have you found them?” she asked, sup¬ 
posing she was speaking to one of the men 
who had been sent out to search for the chil¬ 
dren. 

“Yes, I have them. And I tell you they 
were mighty glad to get out of the woods.” 

He lifted them from the cart, and Lisette 
clasped them in her arms. 

“Quick! Quick!” she cried. “Run to the 
drawing-room. The ladies are wild. They 
have sent men out with lanterns. But wait a 
minute, my man. Madame will want to thank 
you.” 

“Bah! There’s nothing to thank me for— 
I can’t wait for I must go six miles before I 
get home.” 

“Then do please tell me where you live and 
what is your name.” 

“Well—if you ever go to Aube ask any¬ 
body there for Hurel the butcher, and you’ll 
find me. Good night!” 





Lost In a Tree 


“Good night!” cried Lisette. 

In the meantime the little girls had scamp¬ 
ered into the drawing-room as fast as their 
tired feet could carry them, to be received 
with love that could not be told! 



79 







THE HAPPY HURELS 
Their Surprise! 

It was nearly noon the next day, and 
Camilla and Madeleine, who were waiting 
for the lost children to wake, were growing 
impatient. Madame de Rosbourg came into 
the room. She was leading Marguerite, for 
she could not be without her little girl for 
even one minute. 

“Where is Sophie? Is she sleeping yet?” 
asked Madame de Fleurville. 


80 







The Happy Hurels 

No. She will come as soon as she is 
dressed.” 

“O Marguerite!” exclaimed Camilla, “we 
have been waiting so long to hear what hap¬ 
pened yesterday.” 

Marguerite was eager to tell. How fright¬ 
ened they had been when they knew they 
were lost! How hungry they had been, and 
thirsty, and, oh, so tired! Then how happy 
they had been when they found that brook, 
and afterward so frightened when they heard 
the rustling, and Marguerite had felt the hot 
breathing on the back of her neck! And then 
she had screamed, and Sophie had screamed 
too, and they had seen the animal run away 
into the woods. 

“What was he like?” asked Madeleine. 

“I don’t know. I was so afraid—but I 
think he was brown. Sophie thinks so, too.” 

“Do hurry and tell us the rest,” said 
Camilla. 

“What man was it who brought you back 
in his cart?” asked Madeleine. 

“He was a dear kind man, but now wait 
till I tell you about the wild animals! Well, 
we heard awful noises, just like a procession 


81 





Happy Surprises 

of wild beasts making all sorts of queer 
sounds. We caught hold of branches and went 
straight up into the tree. We didn’t climb, 
Mother, we ran on our hands and feet as 
high as we could. I don’t know how we did 
it, but we never stopped till we got to the top. 

“You can’t think how good Sophie is! She 
was so sorry she had brought me there, that 
she would have carried me if she could. But 
she couldn’t, so she went ahead and trampled 
down the rough places on the path, and broke 
through the tangles in the bushes, so that they 
shouldn’t scratch me.’’ 

“Mother,’’ interrupted Camilla, “you said 
yesterday that Sophie and Marguerite might 
never get home again. But it seems to me 
that they could easily have found the road 
back.” 

“You forget what we call the woods is only 
a strip of the great forest,’’ answered Madame 
de Fleurville. “It was thinned out and the 
paths cut to make easy going between the 
villages. Our own park and grounds were a 
part of the forest two hundred years ago.’’ 

“But there are no wolves there now,’’ inter¬ 
rupted Camilla again. 


82 






The Happy Hurels 

You are mistaken, there are wolves as 
well as other wild animals.” 

Marguerite shuddered. 

“Just think, if there had been a wolf, we 
might have been eaten up this minute!” she 
said. 

“I should say, judging from what you tell 
me, that the brown thing certainly was a 
wolf,” answered Madame de Fleurville. “He 
was frightened by your screams. When 
wolves are not hungry they are cowards. At 
this season they have more than they can eat, 
for the forest is full of game. It was really 
the wild boar that was dangerous, for boars 
have tusks. They are not dangerous except 
when they have their little ones to protect. 
Then they are absolutely ferocious.” 

“Here is Sophie!” exclaimed Madame de 
Rosbourg. “Come and sit by me, Sophie. 
You certainly had an adventure yesterday 
that neither you nor Marguerite will ever for¬ 
get, I am sure.” 

“No, indeed!” exclaimed Sophie. “I shall 
remember it all my life. As soon as I can, I 
mean to have a painter make a picture of us 
and the wolf and the boars. I shall have him 


83 





Happy Surprises 

put a verse under it too, so that everybody 
shall know why it was made. It will be this: 


“Marguerite and I 
Ran safe and high, 

When the dreadful wolf 
And boars went by!” 

“Will that be all right?” 

“It tells the whole story,” said Madame de 
Rosbourg. 

“It tells the whole story,” said Madame de 
Fleurville, and they both smiled. 

“Lisette has told us that good Hurel 
brought you back,” said Madame de Ros¬ 
bourg. “It is too late to go now to Aube, but 
in the morning we will thank him.” 

“Must I go?” asked Sophie. 

“Surely, it was you as well as Marguerite 
that he saved from death.” 

“That’s true, and I know that I ought to go, 
but I hate to have him laugh at me. He acted 
as if we were babies, but of course I’ll go just 
the same.” 

The next day they went to Aube—all of 
them. And when the two carriages drove 
into the village, people ran to their doors and 


84 






85 


























































































































































Happy Surprises 

windows curious to see what ladies and chil¬ 
dren were stopping at the house of Hurel the 
butcher. 

His wife and daughter could not believe 
that it was a visit for them. He himself had 
not given a second thought to the adventure in 
the forest; he could only suppose that new 
customers were come. 

“What may I show you, ladies? I have 
superb mutton and the best of beef, and—’’ 

“Thank you,” replied Madame de Ros- 
bourg. “We are not come to buy, but to pay 
our debt.” 

“Debt, Madame? I don’t think that you 
owe me anything. I don’t remember to have 
sold meat or game to you.’’ 

“No, I do not owe you for meat or game, 
but for these children whom you found in the 
wood.’’ 

Hurel laughed. “Oho! These are the chil¬ 
dren that I picked off a tree! You don’t want 
to range the forest again, do you, little ones?’’ 

“Oh, no! We were cold and hungry and so 
frightened that if you had not saved us, we 
should have died—and that is why my Mother 



The Happy Hurels 

and Madame de Fleurville and all of us are 
come to thank you.” 

While she was speaking, Marguerite went 
to Hurel and stood on tip-toe to kiss him. The 
good man lifted her from the ground and gave 
her a hearty kiss on each cheek, saying: 

‘‘It would have been a pity to have any 
harm come to a dear little girl like you. But 
take seats, ladies! Daughter Victorine, bring 
some chairs!” 

Victorine brought the chairs, and after a 
friendly chat, Madame de Rosbourg asked 
what time it was. Hurel looked at the cuckoo 
clock hanging on the wall. 

‘‘Our cuckoo is out of order. It doesn’t keep 
good time, but it can’t be far from four 
o’clock,” he said. 

“It is getting late,” Madame de Rosbourg 
said, and as she rose to go, she laid a little 
leather case in Hurel’s hand, adding, “I see 
you have no watch, so here is a remembrance 
from the children. I hope you will wear it 
always.” 

He opened the case, and when he saw a 
handsome watch and gold chain, he ex¬ 
claimed: 


87 




Happy Surprises 

“My dear lady! I could never carry a gold 
watch and chain like this! Look at it, Marie, 
Victorine! Did you ever see such a beauty?” 
And he dangled the watch in front of his wife 
and daughter. 

“You must wear it for the children’s sake 
and mine too, for we can never forget what 
you did for us all,” said Madame de Ros- 
bourg. 

Then as she stepped into her carriage, she 
gave Hurel’s wife and daughter each a little 
box holding a pin and earrings, saying: 

“I hope when you see what is in these, you 
will be pleased.” 

It was evident that they did not wait long 
to discover what was in them. 

As the carriages drove away, the ladies and 
children were delighted to see the whole 
Hurel family standing together on the little 
lawn, brimming over with smiles, and kissing 
their boxes to them instead of their hands, as 
they waved good-bye. 


88 








BOYS AND SUMMER-HOUSES 

Several Surprises! 

“I have a delightful surprise for you,” said 
Madame de Fleurville, as she bade them good¬ 
night. 

“Your Uncle and Aunt de Ruges, and your 
Uncle and Aunt de Traypi are coming the day 
after tomorrow, Thursday. All three boys 
are coming too.” 

“What good times we shall have!” ex¬ 
claimed Camilla, and the four children 

89 








Happy Surprises 

agreed, “It will be hard to wait till Thurs¬ 
day!” 

But Thursday morning came at last. The 
mothers were sitting quietly in the little sun- 
parlor, looking out on the driveway, when 
Marguerite appeared at the door. 

“They are not in sight yet, are they?** she 
asked. 

“No, not yet.” 

“Oh, goody! We were afraid that we 
hadn’t time to put flowers in the rooms. But 
now it will be all right!” and away she ran. 

“What flowers shall I pick, Camilla?” 

“Dahlias and mignonette—one is beautiful 
and the other sweet.” 

“Sophie, will you get me four vases?” 

Sophie brought the vases, which were soon 
filled with gorgeous dahlias and delicate 
mignonette. Two of them the children car¬ 
ried to the room of Leon and Jean de Ruges, 
and two they placed on the table of little 
Jacques de Traypi. 

“Now we have everything done! Jacques 
will be enchanted with his room. It is charm¬ 
ing!” said Camilla. “And the picture-books 
will please him too.” 


90 




Boys and Summer-Houses 


At that minute Marguerite’s voice was 
heard: 

“Here they are! Here they are!” 

Two carriages passed through the gates 
and came up the driveway. They stopped 
before the broad steps of the house. Then 
there was excitement! A welcome affection¬ 
ate and so joyous! When quiet was restored, 
the children surprised each other. 

“How tall you have grown, Leon!” 

“And how pretty you are, Camilla!” 

“Jean, you are like a young man!” 

“If you say that I am a real young man, 
Madeleine, I will say that you are grown to be 
a real young lady. And that is true!” 

“O Jacques, I am so glad to see you!” 

“I’m glad to see you too, Marguerite. We’ll 
have a lot of frog-hunts, shan’t we? 

“What fun we shall have!” they all cried. 

Sophie stood apart. She had been met in 
the friendliest fashion, but yet she felt alone. 
Jean was the first to notice that she was sad, 
and he drew himself up very 1 straight as he 
said softly: 

“I remember how good you were to me 
when I was here before. I was a little boy 


91 




Happy Surprises 

then, but now I am taller than you are, and 
it’s my turn to look after you.” 

“You are good, Jean. You make me forget 
that I have no family.” 

“O Sophie!” exclaimed Camilla. “You 
know that we are your sisters and Mother is 
your mother, and we all love you dearly. Why 
do you make us feel badly by saying such 
things? It seems as though you did not love 
us.” 

“Forgive me, Camilla. I’m sorry I said 
that, for I have truly found a mother and 
sisters.” 

“And brothers, too!” cried the three boys 
together. 

Sophie forgot to be sad. She laughed. 

“Thank you, dear brothers, I am proud of 
my family.” 

“Children! Children! Come to luncheon! 
Come quickly!” called Madame de Fleurville. 

They did not need that invitation twice. 
Sitting around the table enjoying the cakes 
and fruit, they laid plans for the next day. 
Leon would have a fishing party, Jean wanted 
to read aloud. 

“I shall spend the whole day chasing but- 

92 





Boys and Summer-Houses 

terflies with Marguerite,” said Jacques. 
“We’ll get up at six, for that’s the best time to 
catch them. And then we’ll spread their 
wings and pin them to corks.” 

‘‘Pin them to corks!” echoed Marguerite in 
a horrified voice. ‘‘Never in this world will 
I do that! Nor kill them neither! We’ll go 
fishing with Leon.” 

Jacques had a sweet nature, and he prom¬ 
ised to do just what pleased the others. After 
luncheon they took a walk. They admired 
Camilla’s and Madeleine’s garden, so bright 
with flowers and so beautifully kept. 

‘‘You ought to have a summer-house,” said 
Jean. “It would protect you from the sun 
and the rain too.” 

“That’s true,” answered Camilla, “but 
we could never make it, we aren’t strong 
enough.” 

“Jean and I will build it for you while we 
are here,” said Leon grandly. 

“And Marguerite and I will make one for 
ourselves,” added Jacques. 

Leon laughed. 


93 




Happy Surprises 

“Ha! Ha! Fine workmen you two will 
be! You don’t know even how to begin.” 

“Oh, we’ll know and we’ll do it!” 

“We’ll help you,” said Madeleine, “and I 
am sure that Leon and Jean will help too.” 

“But, Jacques, how can you make a house 
big enough to hold two people?” asked 
Sophie. 

“You’ll see. I have a plan.” And Jacques 
added something in a low voice to Marguerite. 

She laughed and whispered: 

“That’s splendid. But don’t tell till it is 
done.” 

Then all went to the vegetable garden and 
inspected the fruit trees. Next they visited 
the cows, the sheep and the lambs, the rabbits, 
the chickens. 

Such happy boys! They were like prisoners 
set free. They ran races, they leaped over 
ditches, they swung from the trees, they 
gathered wild flowers. Jacques gave his to 
Marguerite. Jean divided his carefully chosen 
ones between Madeleine and Sophie. And 
Leon picked his for Camilla. 

When dinner was served, they all ate with 
an appetite that amazed everybody. 


94 



Boys and Summer-Houses 



“GIVE US SOME BROWN BREAD AND MILK!” THEY CRIED 


That evening Jacques was seen talking with 
his father and Marguerite. Their voices were 
so low that no one overheard what they were 
saying. Once Jacques clapped his hands and 
hugged his father, but they would not tell 
why. 

In the morning when Jean and Leon went 
as they always did, to wake Jacques, there 
was no Jacques. 

“What time do you suppose he got up?” 
exclaimed Jean. 

“At daylight, you may be sure. This is 

95 


















Happy Surprises 

only our second day, and I guess he was too 
excited to sleep. Let’s get a drink of warm 
milk and some brown bread. It’s milking 
time. Don’t you remember how Mother Diart 
was always ready to give us a treat? Come 
on!” 

They arrived just as the milking was 
finished. Mother Diart welcomed them heart¬ 
ily, and when Leon asked for warm milk and 
brown bread, she bustled away to get it. 

“I’ll have it in a jiffy,’’ she said, and back 
she came with bowls and a huge loaf of brown 
bread, and a sharp knife. She filled both 
bowls from the pail of warm milk, and cut 
slice after slice of bread. 

“I can’t eat any more,” declared Leon at 
last. “And you ought to stop, too, Jean, for 
we have that summer-house to build before 
Jacques begins his.” 

“I don’t know if we can,” said Jean doubt¬ 
fully. “Jacques is strong, little as he is, and 
is clever too. When he starts to do a thing, 
he does it.” 

“But do you suppose he can build a house 
with only girls to help him?” 

“I don’t know.” 


96 





Boys and Summer-Houses 

“Well, I know that a little boy like Jacques 
can’t be much of a builder,’’ said Leon loftily. 
“But let’s find the girls. It’s nearly eight 
o’clock.’’ 

Camilla and Madeleine were waiting for 
them. They and the boys were just going to 
begin work, when they heard bang—bang— 
bang, as if some one was nailing boards. 

“Who is pounding in our garden?’’ ex¬ 
claimed Camilla. 

“It must be some one in the woods,’’ re¬ 
plied Leon. 

“No, it seems to come from the garden,’’ 
and as Camilla spoke, Marguerite came run¬ 
ning to meet them. 

“Hello!’’ said she. “Come, and see what 
we are doing.’’ 

She led them a short way into the woods. 
There was little Jacques armed with a ham¬ 
mer and nailing boards to the stakes that 
made the four corners of his house. 

But what was most surprising, was that 
Jacques had done so much work so well. The 
way those stakes were sunken! The way in 
which the windows and doors were marked 
out! The big boys stood speechless, while 


97 






Happy Surprises 

Jacques threw down his hammer and leaned 
against a tree to laugh. 

“What are you laughing at?” demanded 
Leon. 

‘‘You are all so surprised.” 

“How did you ever carry those heavy 
boards?” asked Jean. 

“Sophie and Marguerite helped me.” 

Leon and Jean shook their heads and 
walked slowly around. They tested the stakes. 
They counted the number of boards, while 
Camilla and Madeleine praised Jacques’ 
work. 

“What time was it when you got up?” 
asked Jean. 

“Five o’clock, and by six we were here, 
tools and all. Here they are—try them.” 

“No, we’ll learn from watching such a 
clever carpenter as you.” 

Jacques glanced knowingly at Sophie and 
Marguerite. 

“We are tired now,” said they. “We’ll take 
our nets and chase butterflies.” 

And Jacques and the two girls ran laugh¬ 
ingly away. 






“LOOK AT THE SUMMER HOUSE,*’ THEY CRIED 


99 



) ) > 
















































































Happy Surprises 

'They don’t act much like tired people,” 
said Leon as he watched them go. 

Suddenly he had something else to think 
of, for Camilla and Madeleine came rushing 
towards him, crying out: 

“People are in the bushes! We heard 
them!” 

Leon drew back, while Jean seized Jacques* 
hammer and sprang in front of the girls. But 
there was no sound. They listened. All was 
quiet. 

“Throw down your hammer, Jean,” said 
Leon scornfully. “It’s nothing at all.” 

“Thank you, Jean,” said Camilla. “We 
really thought we heard a noise. But now 
—let’ s see about our summer-house—we want 
to put it opposite Jacques’. Of course we 
must have stakes and boards, but we can find 
all we need in Nicaise’s carpenter shop. He 
kindly lets us have whatever we want. I’ll 
show you.” 

They found the gardener’s shed. It was 
stocked with wood of every sort for every use. 

“This is where Nicaise mends his tilings, 
and here’s his cart. We’ll take that too. It’s 
just what we want.” 


100 






•••' ' 



V1 



if j ] 





f 

m, 

{ J 


a.mini aiMiMniliWMii—■.■■i 

















































































. 





































































Boys and Summer-Houses 

So they piled it up with boards. Leon and 
Jean harnessed themselves to the cart with 
ropes, while Camilla and Madeleine stood 
one on either side to keep the load from slid¬ 
ing. They walked down the path and passed 
triumphantly by the butterfly hunters, who 
ranged themselves in a line like soldiers and 
presented arms with their nets. 

Suddenly breakfast time came, and there 
was a stampede. "VC^ith Lisette s help there 
was a washing of hands, a flourish of brushes 
and combs, and glances in the mirror. Then 
seven well-behaved hungry young people 
seated themselves at the table. 

"Well, and how are the summer-houses 
getting on?” asked Colonel de Traypi. You 
big boys must have yours nearly finished by 
this time.” 

"Not yet, Uncle,” answered Leon. ‘ We 
have just begun to drive in the stakes. 

"And how much has my little Jacques 
done?” 

"Oh, a bit!” 

Marguerite, always ready to take Jacques’ 
part, exclaimed: 

"Just you tell Uncle that he has done more 

101 




Happy Surprises 

than you all, for he has fastened his boards 
to the stakes.” 

Colonel de Traypi laughed. 

“Jacques is a better workman than you 
thought, eh, Leon?” 

“Leon,” said Camilla, “you must know 
more than any of us. Won’t you tell us what 
to do for our house?” 

This little compliment soothed Leon, and 
when they went back to work, he gave each 
a task, and all worked industriously for two 
hours. But after his house was nearly done, 
the stakes were loose in the ground, the 
boards would not hold together, the nails 
were bent or were driven in crooked. 

“Let’s rest till tomorrow,” said the build¬ 
ers. “We are all so tired.” 

But Jacques, instead of going to the garden 
with the others, went to speak to his father, 
who listened intently, and then said: 

“You are a good little fellow, my Jacquot, 
and I’ll do what you asked last night. I’ll 
finish their house for them.” 

And Jacques, quite satisfied, ran off to play 
with his cousins. 

They had agreed that tired or not tired 

102 




Boys and Summer-Houses 

they would finish the summer-houses the next 
day. So in the early morning the band, full 
of good resolutions, filed out again to their 
place of work. 

When they arrived, they stopped. 

Nobody spoke. 

There before them stood the two summer¬ 
houses—finished! The windows lacked only 
panes of glass. How could such a thing have 
happened? It was a miracle! 

“Let me explain,” said Colonel de Traypi 
stepping out from among the trees. “Jacques 
asked me to help you because I had helped 
him. I called Nicaise and we two did the 
job. Twice when he was gone to his shop for 
tools, I was nearly caught, once by Jean with 
his hammer, and once by Leon. I know just 
how a burglar feels when the policeman is 
after him.” Colonel de Traypi laughed. 

“I will say, Uncle,” said Jean, “that you 
have the legs of an athlete! However you 
managed to get out and in through that tangle 
of bushes, I don t know. 

Colonel de Traypi laughed again. 

“I won a medal for being the fastest runner 
in my class at college, and maybe I haven’t 

103 



Happy Surprises 

lost that knack. Now I hope you will enjoy 
our work.” 

“We can never thank you enough for it. 
You are the clearest uncle in the world,” the 
children cried. 

And they meant what they said. 

Afterwards when Leon was alone with 
Jacques, he said: 

“I’m sorry I was cross to you, for you are 
the best fellow that ever lived.” 

And he meant what he said! 

Before the end of the vacation, the summer¬ 
houses, covered with ivy and flowering vines, 
were beautiful to look at. And the cosy little 
rooms were charming. They were furnished 
with tables and chairs, odd and old, brought 
down from the attic. Old rugs, that had not 
lost their brightness, were thrown on the 
sanded floors. 

There the boys and girls read, wrote letters 
to their friends, made clever toys, and were as 
happy when it rained as when the sun shone. 


104 







THE MAN IN THE WOODS 
Lucie’s Big Surprise! 

“I like the mill road better than any road 
or path near the forest,” said Leon one day 
when they were all out doors enjoying the 
fresh air and sunshine. 

‘‘I don’t like any of them! I never shall,” 
declared Sophie. “I can’t forget what hap¬ 
pened when we went to help Mother Luitain. 

‘‘Don’t be foolish. There never was any¬ 
thing that night to frighten sensible people,” 
answered Leon, who was planning a joke. 


105 





Happy Surprises 


And he thought delightedly, “Father and 
Uncle George are here now, but they’ll soon 
be going back to the house. Then I’ll give 
the girls a good scare!” 

He had seen a narrow path leading off the 
road. It was just the place! So he slipped 
away quietly. For a while no one missed him. 
Then at last Marguerite asked: 

“Where is Leon?” 

She was answered by a scream of real ter¬ 
ror from the bushes. And Leon, waving both 
arms frantically, rushed from the woods into 
the road, shouting: 

“Murder! Murder!” 

A poorly dressed man followed him, swing¬ 
ing a stick. When the man saw Major de 
Ruges and Colonel de Tray pi, he came to¬ 
wards them taking off his cap. 

“What is the matter?” asked Major de 
Ruges. “Who are you, man, and what has 
happened to my son?” 

“I don’t know why the boy is so frightened, 
sir. I was tired and was taking a nap on the 
ground. When I woke up, I saw him crouch¬ 
ing under a bush. But he didn’t see a big 
snake close to him, coiled ready to strike. I 
106 





The Man in the Woods 

tell you, I didn’t wait to count two! I grabbed 
him and set him outside. He ran as if the 
bugaboo was after him, and yelled as though 
he had him.” 

Major de Ruges could understand why 
Leon was startled by such an unexpected at¬ 
tack. But he wanted to talk with him and 
make him ashamed of acting like a scared 
baby. 

In the meantime the children gathered 
around the stranger. Sophie was staring at 
him. 

“I have seen him before,” she thought. 
“But where? And I have heard his voice.” 

The man was looking at the children. Sud¬ 
denly he saw Sophie, and staggered as though 
he were falling. Then he almost whispered: 

“Miss—Miss—you are never Sophie de 
Rean?—No!—You can’t be!” 

“Yes, I am Sophie—and I seem to know 
you.” She hesitated as she spoke and drew 
her hand slowly across her forehead. “But it 
is so long—so long—I wonder—” her face 
brightened. “Oh yes! Now I remember! 
Aren’t you Leconte the Norman sailor?” 

107 





Happy Surprises 

“Yes indeed, Miss, that’s myself! But how 
did you ever get out of the wreck, Miss 
Sophie?’’ 

There were tears in Sophie’s voice and in 
her eyes, as she answered: 

“They say my father saved me. I don’t 
know how, and I don’t know what became of 
Paul. He was with Commander de Ros¬ 
bourg.” 

“Commander de Rosbourg!’’ exclaimed 
Major de Ruges. 

The man turned to Major de Ruges. 

“Yes, sir, he was my Commander. And to 
think, sir, that I was always sure dear little 
Miss Sophie was at the bottom of the ocean! 
And here she is safe and well in my own 
Normandy.” 

“But where is Paul now? Was he lost 
with the ship?” interrupted Sophie. 

“No, he was not. Commander de Rosbourg 
stayed with the ship till there were only three 
of us left. Then the Commander, Paul and 
I jumped into an empty boat that was floating 
on the waves, and we got to the shore. The 
Commander carried the boy in his arms. 
There were savages on shore—two bands of 


108 





The Man in the Woods 



SOPHIE RECOGNIZES THE NORMAN 


them. They divided us—one tribe took the 
Commander and Paul—the other took me. 

“Finally after all these years, I escaped. 
Now I am looking everywhere for my wife 
and child, but I can’t find a trace of them.” 

“Poor Paul!” said Sophie, wiping her eyes. 

While the fathers were earnestly question¬ 
ing the sailor, the children clustered round 
Sophie. 

“Have you really been in a shipwreck with 
my own father?” asked Marguerite eagerly. 


109 







Happy Surprises 

“And when everybody else was lost, how 
were you saved?” asked Madeleine. 

“Who was the Paul you were talking 
about?” inquired Jacques. 

“Why didn’t you ever tell us about it?” 
asked Camilla. 

“Why does that man call you Sophie de 
Rean?” asked Leon. 

“Because that was the name I was born 
with,” answered Sophie. 

“How could you change it for another?” 
asked Marguerite. 

“I don’t know. But I think Mr. Fichini 
left my father his name and some land in 
America.” 

“Now I remember,” exclaimed Camilla. 
“When we were little we used to go to your 
house. Your father and mother were there, 
your mother was Madame de Rean. And 
there were an Uncle and Aunt d’ Aubert, and 
Paul d’ Aubert was your boy cousin.” 

Sophie nodded. 

“Yes, that was true, and when I had been 
years away, I came back with my stepmother. 
I never spoke of those things because I had 
been forbidden to mention them. Then I 


no 






The Man in the Woods 


forgot them myself. I was very little, you 
know. But seeing the Norman made me re¬ 
member. Now I think that my whole life will 
come back to me, and perhaps Paul will come 
back!” 

“That’s impossible!” exclaimed Leon. “He 
has been gone too long.” 

“Not at all,” replied Jean. “The Norman 
came back after these many years, and Paul 
was with Commander de Rosbourg.” 

“Then of course the savages have eaten 
both of them,” snapped Leon. 

Sophie began to cry. Jacques threw his 
arms around her, his black eyes flashed an¬ 
grily. And Jean said: 

“Leon, why do you try to torment poor 
Sophie?” 

“I suppose I must never speak,” muttered 
Leon. 

“Certainly not, when you have nothing but 
disagreeable things to say.” 

The little girls tried their best to persuade 
Sophie that Paul was alive and would soon 
come home. They felt so sure that both he 
and the Commander had escaped. Leon was 
sorry for what he had said, and thought: 


in 




Happy Surprises 

“As soon as I see Sophie alone, I’ll tell her 
so. Only I won’t let anybody else know it.*’ 

Marguerite, who had been watching the 
sailor, suddenly went over to where he was 
standing, for she thought to herself, “He will 
never stop talking and I can’t wait any 
longer!’’ 

“Was the child you are looking for,’’ she 
asked excitedly, “your boy or your girl?’’ 

“She is my girl. She is about fourteen years 
old and her name is Lucie. Maybe you know 
her?’’ said the man eagerly. 

“Yes, I know her, for she looks just like 
you turned into a girl. She lives in the White 
House with her mother.” 

But she could not say any more, for the 
man seemed suddenly to grow wild. He ran 
down the road calling: 

“Frangoise! Lucie!” 

Then realizing that he did not know the 
way, he came running back and seized Mar¬ 
guerite’s hand. 

“Take me to them. Where do they live?” 

It was Colonel de Traypi who answered 
kindly: 


112 





The Man in the Woods 

That will not do, for if you should go 
there suddenly, it might kill your wife. She 
has been very sick, and must be told gently.” 

*'That’s true, sir. I feel like a fish out of 
water, and could swim a hundred leagues.” 

"Come, we ll go now.” 

They all went together. When they came 
in sight of the White House, the children 
waited while their fathers went to prepare 
Frangoise. Leconte walked excitedly up and 
down. 

Just then a young girl came briskly along 
with a basket on her arm. She had been to 
the village for groceries. 

"Lucie!” cried Marguerite. 

"Lucie!” echoed Leconte. 

Lucie dropped her basket. She grew red, 
then pale. 

“It can’t—it can’t be Father! O my dear, 
dear Father!” and she threw herself into his 
arms. 

"I would know you among ten thousand! 
But how did you know me?” he asked while 
the tears trickled down his cheeks. 

“Because you are not much changed. But 

113 







Happy Surprises 

I must call Mother,” and Lucie would have 
run into the White House, but her father held 
her back. 

“No, no, not yet! She must be told gently. 
The gentlemen are gone to prepare her.” 

Lucie promised to be calm, and ran into 
the house, glowing with happiness. 

“Mother! Dear Mother! I am so glad! 
I can’t tell you!” 

Her mother looked at her anxiously. 

“Why are you glad? What has happened? 
These gentlemen have just spoken of some 
one who has come home from the sea. You 
can’t have news of your father?” 

Lucie did not reply. She laughed and she 
cried. 

“Answer me, Lucie! Have you heard from 
your father?” 

“Here he is,” came a voice from the door, 
and Leconte, forgetting that he meant to be 
prudent, rushed into the room and clasped 
Frangoise in his arms. And Frangoise, in¬ 
stead of fainting, cried from pure happiness, 
while Lucie threw her arms around them 
both. 


114 





The Man in the Woods 

And then in his own home and in his native 
land, the Norman sailor said from a full heart: 
“I have found all that I lost!” 



115 













THE WAX DOLL 
The Sun’s Queer Surprise! 

There was great excitement at Fleurville. 
Every one rejoiced. Commander de Ros- 
bourg and Paul might still be living! 

Colonel de Traypi was a quiet man, who 
always thought twice before he acted once. 

So when he said, “I am going to Paris to 
see the Secretary of the Navy,” Madame de 
Rosbourg and Madame de Fleurville were de¬ 
lighted. They were full of hope. 

“I shall tell of Leconte’s return and what 
he has said to us about Commander de Ros- 


116 





The Wax Doll 


bourg and Paul. Ships often stop at those 
islands. Sailors have adventures and are 
rescued. Maybe 1 shall bring home some good 
news. Who knows?” 

While he was gone, and while the boys 
were enjoying their favorite sport, shooting 
at a mark, Madame de Rosbourg held what 
she called her “Class.” She had lived in Italy, 
and had learned there to embroider in such 
wonderful stitchery and colors that her work 
was almost like painting. 

“Come, my Class,” she called one morning. 
“Camilla, Madeleine, Sophie, and my little 
Marguerite! Come all and bring your em¬ 
broidery frames. I have gathered flowers for 
you to copy. We will try these lilies of 
France.” 

They were busy choosing silks in colors 
and shades that would harmonize with the 
royal gold of the lilies, and did not notice that 
Madame de Fleurville had come quietly into 
the room, and was sitting in the big red chair 
by the window. In her lap lay an open port¬ 
folio full of closely written papers. 

There was a note of sadness in her voice, 


117 




Happy Surprises 

in spite of the smile on her lips. Her eyes 
rested on Sophie. 

“Madame de Rosbourg is willing for me 
to read aloud, while you work,” she said. 
“This portfolio was given me by Sophie’s own 
mother. Before she sailed for America, she 
laid it in my hand saying, ‘I have always kept 
a journal of Sophie’s little doings, so that she 
may know herself better when she grows up. 
I have written them like stories. Will you 
take care of them, my friend?’ 

“And all these years I have saved the 
stories,” added Madame de Fleurville. “Shall 
I read some of them, Sophie? It will be like 
looking at a landscape through a field-glass.” 

Sophie was so delighted that her voice 
trembled, and she cried out: 

“O yes! Indeed do!” 

Madame de Fleurville looked lovingly at 
her. 

“And you will know your own dear little 
mother better,” she said. 

“And we shall know Sophie better, too!” 
cried Camilla. 

Here then is the first story that Madame de 
Fleurville read, as she sat in the big red arm- 


118 



The Wax Dolt 


chair, that had been brought from Sophie's 
old home and which appears in one of these 
very stories. 

So the little girls gathered around her while 
they embroidered, and listened to the story of: 

THE WAX DOLL 

“Marie! Marie!” cried Sophie, rushing like 
a small whirlwind into the room where the 
maid sat sewing. “Come and open the box 
that Father has sent from Paris. I know it is 
a doll, for he promised me one.” 

“Where is the box?” asked Marie. 

“In the other room. Do come quickly.” 

Marie laid down her work and followed 
Sophie. The box was on a chair. When it 
was opened they spied the blond and curly 
head of a wax doll. Although it was wrapped 
in many papers, Sophie tried to seize it. 

“Take care!” cautioned Marie. “You’ll 
break it. Don’t you see it is fastened to the 
box?” 

“Break the cord! Tear it off!” And Sophie 
too excited to stand still danced around the 
chair. 


119 



Happy Surprises 

But Marie very quietly taking her scissors, 
cut the string and unfolding the wrappings, 
laid in Sophie’s arms the prettiest doll ever 
seen. 

Its eyes were blue and bright. In each rosy 
cheek was a dimple, and two little teeth 
peeped through the red lips. Its arms were 
plump like a real baby’s arms, and its dress 
was trimmed with lace and ribbons. It wore 
little socks and slippers. 

Sophie clasped it to her heart and ran up 
and down the room fairly shouting with joy. 
Her cousin Paul, who was older than she, 
heard the noise and came running in to see 
what it meant. 

“Look at the beautiful doll Father sent 
me!’’ 

Paul held out his hands. 

“Let me take it.’’ 

Sophie hugged it tighter. 

“No, you would break it,’’ she said. 

“I promise you I’ll be very careful, and I’ll 
give it back directly. I want only to look 
at it.’’ 

Sophie gave him the doll. 

“Don’t let it fall!’’ 


120 




The Wax Doll 


Paul turned it around and around, looking 
at it from every side, then gave it back shak¬ 
ing his head. 

“What makes you shake your head?” 

“Because it isn’t very strong. I am sure 
you will break it.” 

“Oh, don’t be afraid! I shall take such good 
care of it that I shall never break it. I am 
going to beg Mother to let me ask Camilla 
and Madeleine to come and see it.” 

Paul shook his head again. 

“Then it will surely be broken.” 

“No indeed! They wouldn’t hurt my child 
for anything. They will love it as much as 
I do.” 

The next morning Sophie’s first thought 
was of her doll, and then that Camilla and 
Madeleine were coming. 

“How glad they will be to see her,” she 
said to herself, as she tied the bright blue rib¬ 
bon around the golden hair. But I am afraid 
she is cold. I will leave her in the sunshine, 
and they will know that I take care of her 
and keep her warm.” 

Sophie carried her doll to the parlor win¬ 
dow where the sun was hottest. 


121 




Happy Surprises 

“What are you doing, Sophie?” asked her 
mother. 

“I’m warming my doll. She is very cold.” 

“Be careful or she will melt.” 

“O no! She can’t melt. She is as hard as 
wood.” 

“That may be, but heat will soften wax. 
Remember, I warn you.” 

But Sophie did not remember. She forgot 
everything except that she heard a carriage 
coming. 

“There they are!” she cried, and flew to 
meet Camilla and Madeleine. 

Paul was leading them into the house. 

While they were speaking to Sophie’s 
mother, Sophie ran into the parlor to get her 
child. Camilla and Madeleine hurried after 
her, anxious for a sight of the wonder. There 
they found Sophie holding it up and staring 
at it. She could only stare. Madeleine stared 
too, but she spoke. 

Your doll is blind. She has no eyes.” 

“What a pity!” said Camilla, taking the 
doll in her arms. “How pretty she is, but 
where are her eyes?” 


122 



The Wax Doll 


Sophie still said nothing. She looked at her 
child and sobbed. 

“What is the matter?” asked her mother 
who had followed her. “Oh, I see! You have 
left your doll in the hot sunshine. She is not 
badly hurt. Happily her face and hands have 
not had time to melt, so do not cry. I am a 
clever doll-doctor, and perhaps 1 can give 
back her eyes. Who knows?” 

“Oh, no. Mother, you can’t! They are not 
there any more.” 

Her mother smiled as she shook the doll 
gently, and something rattled inside the head. 

“It is the eyes that make that sound. The 
wax around them is melted, and they have 
fallen in, but I will try to recover them. Now 
children, get your baby ready while I bring 
my instruments,” she said gaily. 

Very quickly Camilla and Madeleine pre¬ 
pared the doll for the operation. Sophie had 
stopped crying and was anxiously watching 
to see what would happen. Her mother 
snipped the stitches that held the doll’s head 
to its body. The eyes fell out in her lap, and 
with a pair of pincers she carefully picked 
them up and put them back into their sockets. 

123 





Happy Surprises 

Then she poured melted wax around them, 
and when that was sufficiently cooled, she 
sewed the head and body together. 

The children had not stirred, so interested 
were they. Sophie was delighted to see her 
child well and as pretty as ever. She threw 
her arms round her mother’s neck. 

'Thank you! Thank you, my own Mamma! 
I shall always remember what you say.” 

Certainly Sophie was never so happy. 

Then they put the doll on a little cushion, 
and danced around it singing joyfully: 

“Vive! Vive! Mother! 

Mother dear, Mother sweet! 

Soon we’ll bring our flowers, 

And lay them at her feet! 

Vive! Vive! Mother!” 

After this adventure the wax doll was 
Sophie’s comfort. She was called Dear Child. 

“I named her that,” said Sophie, “because 
it is what Mother calls me; and when I speak 
to her I feel as though I were her mother.” 

When Sophie was lonely, she talked to her 
doll. 


124 



The Wax Doll 

Dear Child,” she said one morning, “do 
you know that you have never been washed? 
When I went with Marie to pay Lambert s 
wife for her sewing, she was washing her 
baby Marie. She had soap and water and a 
big brush and a towel. Baby Marie looked 
like a red radish, but big Marie said she would 
look like a red rose, and would be sorry that 
she had kicked and screamed so. Now, Dear 
Child, I am going to wash you this minute and 
make you prettier than ever.” 

Then Sophie brought the soap and water 
and the big brush and towel and fell to work. 
Especially she used the big brush—vigor¬ 
ously—for Sophie never did do anything by 
halves. But when she looked at her Dear 
Child’s face, every bit of color was gone— 
cheeks and lips were white. 

“How pale she is! I have made her sick!" 

And Sophie ran to Marie, who asked: 

“What on earth have you been doing to 
her?” 

“I washed her as Mother Lambert washed 
baby Marie, only more. I did the best I could. 
Just see how pale she is.” 

Marie looked very sober. 

125 




Happy Surprises 

“You must wait till her red cheeks come 
back. That is the best you can do now.’’ 

Sophie shed many tears, but Dear Child re¬ 
mained always pale. 

“Dear Child,’’ she said one day, “I must 
curl your hair again. You have leaned against 
me so much that it is very rough. It makes 
you look as though you had no mother to care 
for you.” 

Then she twisted the tiny ringlets over ends 
of paper. Taking the hot iron that Marie used 
for ruffles, she pressed it carefully on and 
over her Dear Child’s head. 

“There! That will make your curly-wig 
stay.’’ 

Suddenly she sniffed. 

“It smells scorchy,’’ she said, and she 
quickly lifted the iron. 

But the paper came with it, and the hair 
came, also. The iron had been too hot. 

Sophie cried, but Dear Child remained al¬ 
ways bald. 

Not long afterwards, Sophie found a foot¬ 
bath so agreeable that she decided to give one 
to Dear Child. Plunging the doll’s feet into 
boiling water, she kept them there for what 


126 







The Wax Doll 


she thought was a proper number of minutes. 
When she took them out, the feet were melted 
into little balls of wax. 

Sophie cried, but Dear Child remained al¬ 
ways a cripple. 

After these misfortunes, Dear Child was 
not pretty any more. Paul called her Scare¬ 
crow, and Madeleine and Camilla laughed at 
her. But Sophie said: 

“My poor Dear Child! I shall love you 
more than ever, because you need it.” 



127 








STRAWBERRIES RIPE 
A Brave Surprise! 

Here Madame de Fleurville looked up from 
her reading as she finished the story of the 
Wax Doll, but before she could speak, Mar¬ 
guerite exclaimed: 

“O Sophie! I wish I had been there with 
you! What good times Dear Child could have 
had playing with my Beauty.” 

But Sophie had stopped working, and there 
were tears in her eyes. 


128 





Strawberries Ripe 

“Was I always naughty? Did I give my 
mother so much trouble?” she asked. 

“Not naughty—only thoughtless,” Ma¬ 
dame de Fleurville answered. “But now see 
what happened to you in the woods, so long 
ago!” 

And she read aloud the story of: 

THE WOLVES 

Sophie’s father owned a large farm. Every 
week butter and eggs and cheese and honey 
were sent from the farm to her father’s Hall. 
And every Wednesday morning Sophie’s 
mother went to see the farmer. 

She always walked for she loved the 
wooded road that skirted the forest—a long 
stretch of forest, from which sometimes 
wolves were seen to come and run across the 
road to the hills beyond. Because of this 
Sophie’s mother preferred to take her dogs 
with her, great hunting dogs that always ac¬ 
companied her on her walks. 

“There is more protection in them than in 
men and guns,” she would say, patting the 


129 





Happy Surprises 


dogs heads, while they looking up at her 
seemed to answer: 

You are right. We will guard you 
always.” 

Sophie loved the farm. Whenever she was 
allowed to go there, she followed her mother 
through the dairy, and out where the cows 
and horses were kept. But the pigs and 
chickens and ducks were the most delightful. 
And the dear old farmer’s wife, in her high 
cap and wooden shoes that went click-click, 
always had milk and cookies waiting for 
Sophie. 

As to the wolves, Sophie never in her life 
had seen one. 

“They are like ogres that people tell about 
just to scare children. I don’t believe there 
are any,” she said. 

“I do,” declared Paul. “Lambert says that 
when his father was a boy, he shot one. He 
himself has seen their eyes shining through 
the bushes like live coals, they are so bright.” 

1 don t care, I don t believe wolf stories,” 
said Sophie. 

This Wednesday morning she was hoping 
that her mother would say: 


130 






Strawberries Ripe 
Come Sophie, it is time for the straw¬ 
berries to be ripe, and the bluebells are in 
blossom. You may come with me to the 
farm.” 

But her mother did not say it. She re¬ 
marked only: 

“It is a beautiful day.” 

Sophie saw that was the chance for her to 
speak. 

“O yes, Mother! It is such a beautiful day 
that Lambert is going to turn the colts into 
the pasture—he said so, and that perhaps 
Paul and I might go to see them.” 

Her mother hesitated. 

“Do you promise that if I take you with 
me, you will not loiter behind? You know I 
walk fast, and you must keep up with me.” 

Sophie clapped her hands. 

“Yes indeed! We will run all the way. 
Come Paul! We are going to the farm with 
Mother.” 

For a time Sophie was happy chasing but¬ 
terflies, snatching at the flowers, and laughing 
and chattering with Paul. When her mother, 
a few steps ahead, would call, “Come, chil¬ 
dren, come!” they would answer merrily: 

131 



Happy Surprises 

“Here we are!” 

But by and by Sophie began to lag behind. 
Then she stopped to pick the strawberries that 
grew on the side of the road. 

“Try them, Paul! They are delicious and 
so sweet.” 

“No, don’t stop. Aunt Cecile is at the turn 
of the road, and the dogs are out of sight al¬ 
ready,” and Paul ran on. 

“Sophie, do come!” he cried. 

And her mother’s voice called: 

Come, children, come!” 

Paul stopped, not knowing what to do. 
Suddenly Sophie stood up, brushed the straw¬ 
berry stems off her dress, and ran towards 
him. 

“She’s coming,” he thought and hurried on. 

But Sophie did not come. 

Something in the woods atracted her atten¬ 
tion. It proved to be farther away than she 
thought, and she lost sight of the road. It was 
a place where the sunlight slanting through 
the trees made a fairy dell, and there were 
strawberries and flowers such as she had not 
dreamed of. Then quite forgetting what her 

132 






SOPHIE STOPPED TO PICK SOME STRAWBERRIES 


133 


































































Happy Surprises 

mother had said and her own promise, she 
thought: 

“If Paul could only see these! But I’ll make 
him a basket out of leaves, and fill it with 
berries on purpose for him.” 

Paul was just then saying to her mother: 

“Sophie is right behind us. I saw her run¬ 
ning to catch up with us.” 

They walked on, while Sophie’s mother 
told how, in the time of Paul’s grandfather, 
there were so many wolves in the forest that 
the farmers were obliged to keep shepherds 
to guard their flocks. 

“You may be sure that nobody ventured far 
into the forest in those days,” she added. 
“But where is Sophie?” 

“Sophie! Sophie!” they called, but only the 
echo answered. 

“There may still be wolves, who knows? 
One cannot be sure even now,” said her 
mother. 

They turned back hastily, Paul leading the 
way, the two great dogs trotting close beside 
him. At the turn of the road where he had 
last seen Sophie, the dogs became uneasy. 
They began to bark, and suddenly breaking 

134 




Strawberries Ripe 

away, plunged into the forest. Paul followed. 

It was the barking of the dogs that startled 
Sophie, who was sitting on the ground with 
her lap full of leaves for Paul’s basket. She 
looked up and saw two great glittering eyes 
staring at her through the bushes. They were 
not the eyes of a dog! 

She sprang to her feet as she screamed: 

O Mother! Mother!” and she saw her 
mother and Paul running towards her. 

They had followed the dogs into the forest, 
and just as Sophie was going to throw herself 
into her mother’s ^rms, a grey wolf thrust his 
head out from among the trees. He stopped 
at the sight of the dogs, but only for a mo¬ 
ment. Then with his great jaws wide open 
and his eyes flaming, he sprang towards 
Sophie and would have seized her, but the 
dogs rushed at him. 

He felt himself bitten. He turned upon 
them. 

Meanwhile two other wolves, that had 
crept stealthily from behind the trees, came to 
the aid of their brother. 

There was a ferocious fight. 


135 






Happy Surprises 

Sophie’s mother stood watching, too terri¬ 
fied to move. Paul grasped a broken branch 
of a tree and sprang between her and the 
wolves, while Sophie, not daring to look, 
clung trembling to her mother. 

At last all three wolves disappeared, bleed¬ 
ing and beaten, into the forest. They were no 
match for the brave dogs, who with blood 
streaming down their sides, licked Sophie’s 
hands. They knew that they had saved her, 
and were showing her how glad they felt. 
Sophie’s mother cried as she caressed first one 
and then the other of the noble creatures, 
while Paul, kneeling beside them, praised and 
patted them. 

“See how they are bleeding!” exclaimed 
Sophie’s mother. “The wounds are not deep, 
but they need washing. 1 know where there 
is a little brook. We will go there.” 

The brook was really close by, but it 
seemed very far for Sophie’s mother could 
hardly walk, and Paul was almost as pale and 
trembling as Sophie. But they were more than 
repaid when they saw the happiness of the 
dogs, as they threw themselves into the water. 
They splashed and rolled over and over, and 

136 




Strawberries Ripe 

came out acting as though they would enjoy 
meeting another wolf. 

On the way home, Sophie’s mother said: 

“Sophie, don’t you think I was right, when 
I forbade you to loiter along the road?” 

“Yes, Mother. I know you were right, 
and 1 am sorry that I disobeyed you.” 

When Lambert saw them walking slowly 
towards the Hall, he hurried to meet them. 

“O Madame! what has happened?” he 
cried, shocked by their pale faces. 

And when her mother described their ter¬ 
rible adventure in the forest, Sophie could not 
say a word. She knew that it had happened 
through her disobedience. No one blamed 
her. They thought she had been punished 
enough. The dogs, even, licked her hands as 
if they forgave her. But still she was sad. 

The next day Paul came dashing into the 
playroom. He was dressed in a soldier’s uni¬ 
form—an officer’s uniform. 

“See, Sophie, what Aunt Cecile has given 
me! And she says I must wear it to dinner, 
when both our fathers will be there.” 

That night Paul could scarcely sleep, he 
was so happy. For at dinner, Sophie’s mother 

137 





Happy Surprises 


Had pinned a gold medal to his breast, and 
said: 

“This is for a good soldier, who never dis¬ 
obeys orders, and is never afraid. And this 
good soldier is our Paul!” 



338 








CANDIED FRUITS 
A Sweet Surprise! 

Madame de Fleurville was re-arranging the 
last pages of the Wolf Story, when Mar¬ 
guerite exclaimed: 

“I don’t see why people are afraid of 
wolves. They are just like real mothers.” 

Madame de Rosbourg dropped her needle, 
and the eyes of the whole Class were turned 
towards Marguerite. 

“What do you mean, Marguerite?” 

“I’ll tell you, Mother. Leon was reading 

139 















Happy Surprises 

about a lovely wolf mother who found two 
baby boys—twins they were—and she gave 
them more than half her own dinner, just be¬ 
cause they were boys. But she didn’t teach 
them good manners, so they tried to build a 
city, and one killed the other as fast as he 
could. Why can’t we have a pet wolf, Mother? 
Leon would trap one for us.” 

A cry of horror went up from the Class. 

“I do not believe we want even a tame 
wolf, said Madame de Rosbourg laughing. 
“They don’t make good friends, Marguerite.” 

And Madame de Fleurville added: 

Now we will read the last story. It is the 
sweetest of all! It is called: 

CANDIED FRUITS 

One morning Sophie and Paul were passing 
through the hall. 

“There’s a man standing in the vestibule. I 
wonder who he is,” said Sophie. 

“He looks like an expressman. He has a 
package under his arm,” answered Paul. 

Then going towards the man he asked 
politely: 


140 




Candied Fruits 

^ Are you waiting for some one?” 

‘‘I am waiting for Madame de Rean. I 
have a parcel for her.” 

Who sent it? It was Sophie who asked. 

I don t know, Miss. It is from Paris.” 
“What is in it?” 

“I don’t know that either. I think it is some 
sort of candies. At least that was on the bill.” 

Sophie’s eyes sparkled. 

"Come quick, Paul, and tell Mother!” 

Sophie’s mother came, and, paying the 
man, took her package and left the room. 
Sophie and Paul followed closely. Great was 
their disappointment when they saw her lay 
it on a table and quietly return to the desk 
where she had been writing. 

They looked at each other for a minute, 
then Sophie said coaxingly: 

“Don’t you want to open the box. Mother?” 

“No, dear. If I had wished to, I should have 
asked you to do it.” 

Vexed and ashamed Sophie went slowly to 
the playroom. Paul followed. 

“Let’s have a game of jacks,” he said. 

Sophie did not answer. 

“What’s the matter with you?” 


141 




Happy Surprises 

Sophie was silent. She looked very cross. 

Suddenly Paul, who was balancing himself 
on a chair, rolled off. Sophie sprang up to 
help him. 

“O poor Paul! Have you hurt yourself?” 

“No, just the opposite. I made myself com¬ 
fortable. I rolled over just to end our trouble.” 

“O Paul, what a good boy you are! But 
you might have hurt yourself.” 

“The chair isn’t high enough to hurt any¬ 
body. Come, let’s have a game.” 

Afterwards when Sophie passed the parcel 
that was lying unopen on the table, she would 
have stopped to feast her eyes on it, but Paul 
pulled her away. 

"Aunt Cecile hates to be teased, and she’ll 
give us some by and by,” he said. 

That afternoon Sophie’s mother did call 
them. 

“Come children, now we will open that 
famous parcel and taste the candied fruits. 
Run, Paul, and bring a knife to cut the 
string.” 

Paul was off like an arrow and returned 
with a knife. The string was cut, and the 


142 




Candied Fruits 



SOPHIE TOOK A LONG TIME TO CHOOSE 


wrapper undone, disclosing a big box of 
candied fruits and apricot paste. 

“We will try them and see if they are as 
delicious as they look. Take two candies, 
Sophie. Choose the two you like best. There 
are pears, plums, cherries, nuts, and angel¬ 
ica.” 

Sophie hesitated. Then she looked care¬ 
fully to see which of them was the largest. 
Finally she chose a pear and an apricot. 

Paul took angelica and a plum. 

Sophie’s mother closed the box and carried 

143 









Happy Surprises 

it away. Sophie watched till she saw it placed 
on the highest shelf of a closet. 

“1 must go to the village now,” said her 
mother. “I am sorry to have to leave you and 
Paul, but you may play in the garden.” 

No sooner were they alone, than Sophie 
exclaimed: 

“It’s too bad that I did not chose angelica 
and a plum. They must have tasted very 
good, Paul.” 

“Yes,” said Paul. “They were delicious. 
You’ll have them to-morrow. Don’t worry. 
Game and play.” 

Their game was Paul’s invention. It was 
digging a well. What to do with the well 
afterwards, they had not decided. But dig¬ 
ging was endless joy! Endless, because as 
fast as they poured water into the hole, it fil¬ 
tered into the ground. If they had been or¬ 
dered to do this, they would have felt them¬ 
selves abused, but when work is play that is 
different. 

They were busy and happy. Suddenly 
Paul’s foot slipped and he fell into the well, 
emptying the watering-pot over him. 

144 





Candied Fruits 


“Ugh!” he said. “It’s cold! I must change 
my shoes and stockings. Wait here for me. 
I’ll be back in a minute.” 

For a time Sophie remained by the well, 
dipping her little shovel up and down in the 
water. But she was not thinking of the water 
or of the shovel, or of Paul. 

She was thinking of the candied fruits and 
angelica and plums. She was saying to her¬ 
self: 

“Tomorrow, Mother will surely give me 
some. But then I shall not have time to choose. 
If I examine them beforehand, I can make 
up my mind what to take. Suppose I do it 
now. I need only open the box and look.” 

She ran into the house and up to her 
mother’s room. Everything was quiet. Marie 
was down stairs. Softly Sophie opened the 
closet door and tried to reach the box, but 
the shelf was too high. She tried a stick, she 
tried the poker, she tried the tongs. She was 
desperate. 

“What shall I do? How shall I ever manage 
it?” 

Then her eyes fell on an arm-chair. 

145 




Happy Surprises 

How stupid I am! I’ll take that over and 
climb on it.” 

Between pushing and pulling she got the 
big red arm-chair to the closet, and climbed 
on its arm. She seized the box from the 
shelf and slid down into the chair. She opened 
the box on her lap, and began examining the 
fruits. 

They all look so delicious! Which one 
shall I choose? I’ll nibble a little off each and 
then I’ll know just what ones are best. I’ll 
take only a tiny bite.” 

So Sophie nibbled and nibbled the angelica, 
then a prune, then an apricot, then a nut, then 
a pear, then a cherry. Each one seemed better 
than the last. She commenced again; and 
she commenced again so many times that be¬ 
fore she knew it, there was almost nothing 
left in the box. 

“Oh dear! Oh dear! What have I done? I 
meant only to taste. Mother will see when 
she opens the box, and she will guess that it 
was I—She may think it was mice—I saw 
one in the cornbin yesterday. No—perhaps 
she’ll think it was a rat! Rats are bigger 

146 



Candied Fruits 


than mice, they must eat more—and I have 
eaten nearly everything!” 

She shut the box and put it back again in 
the closet. Then she scrambled down from 
the chair and hurried back to the well. She 
had only time to take up her shovel, when 
Paul came. 

“I’ve been gone a long while, haven’t I? 
Baptiste had to brush my shoes. What have 
you been doing?” 

Sophie was embarrassed. 

“I played with the shovel,” she half-whis¬ 
pered. 

“Lend it to me to loosen the ground, while 
you get some water.” 

Sophie was glad to do the errand. When 
she returned, Paul gave back the shovel, say¬ 
ing: 

“It sticks to my fingers. What on earth 
have you been doing with it?” 

“Nothing much,” and Sophie plunged both 
her hands into the watering-pot, for she felt 
that they were very sticky. 

“Why are you washing your hands in the 
watering-pot, Sophie ? ’ ’ 

147 



Happy Surprises 

Sophie, confused, did not know what to 
say. Paul looked puzzled. 

What’s the matter with you, anyhow?” 
he asked. You act as if something was 
wrong.” 

“I don’t see why you say that. You are 
always saying disagreeable things,” cried 
Sophie. 

Paul was surprised. 

I didn’t mean to say anything disagree¬ 
able—” 

He stopped because Marie had come to call 
Sophie. 

“Good night, Sophie!” 

“Good night, Paul,” was all she said. 

That night Sophie dreamed that she was 
standing before a garden filled with beautiful 
flowers and delicious fruits. A troop of 
pretty children held wide the gate and beck¬ 
oned to her. But just as she was entering, 
her Good Angel drew her back. 

“Do not go there, Sophie,” the Angel said. 
“Those fruits are deadly. The perfume of 
those flowers is poison. Those children were 
once sweet and kind, but they have become 
wicked and cruel. This is the Garden of Evil. 

148 




Candied Fruits 

Come with me along yonder path to the Gar¬ 
den of Good.” 

No, I don t want to go there,” said Sophie. 

The road is rough and the sharp stones will 
hurt my feet. Here the paths are soft and 
and smooth and shine like gold.” 

Then she drew her hand from the hand of 
the Good Angel, and ran into the Garden. 
She could hear the Angel calling: 

“Come back, Sophie! Come back! 1 shall 
wait for you at the gate, and if you return to 
me, I shall lead you to the Garden of Good. 
The road to it will become softer and pleas¬ 
anter as you travel on.” 

But Sophie dreamed that she would not 
listen. The pretty children were smiling and 
beckoning, and she ran to them. Then they 
crowded close around her, and mocked and 
pinched her and held her so fast that she could 
not escape from them. 

When she would have picked a lovely rose, 
she did not know its stem was covered with 
thorns till they tore her hands. She tasted 
some tempting fruit, but it was more bitter 
than bitter. Nothing was good. Then in 
spite of the cries and promises of the children, 

149 






Happy Surprises 

she turned and fled to the Good Angel, who 
led her gently along the stony path. 

It was hard for the first few steps, but it 
grew always easier. She had already begun 
to feel the soft breeze and to hear the singing 
of birds, when she opened her eyes. 

That was surely a dream! But to Sophie 
it seemed very real and strange. 

“1 must tell Mother about it,” she thought. 

“It is a lesson for you to learn and to re¬ 
member,” her mother said when she had 
heard the dream. “If you choose to follow 
your own naughty way because it seems 
pleasant, you will have troubles of all kinds. 
Your Good Angel’s name in Conscience. And 
if you follow where she leads you, you will 
be happy. All your life you will be loved 
and loving.” 

Sophie, sitting on the little stool at her 
mother's feet, grew restless. She began to 
move uneasily. She hung her head. She 
glanced up at her mother. She wished to 
speak, but she was ashamed. Her mother 
understood and helped her. 

“You have something to tell me, Sophie? 
You do not dare to, because it is hard to con- 


150 





Candied Fruits 

fess a fault. This is the rough road! Now 
spring bravely among the stones where Con¬ 
science is leading you.” 

Sophie covered her face with her hands, 
and sobbed. Then she told how she had 
eaten the candied fruits, when she meant only 
to look at them. 

And, O Mother!” she added, “I am sorry. 
1 hoped you would think that mice or rats 
did it.” 

“How could I think that? Mice and rats 
only nibble through boxes. They don’t take off 
covers. Besides, they wouldn’t have needed 
the red chair to get to the top of the closet.” 

“Mother! How did you find out about the 
arm-chair?” 

“You forgot to put it back. I was coming 
through the hall when I saw you slip into my 
room. When I found the box, I knew that it 
was you who had nearly emptied it. Although 
you have done right to confess your fault, 
your punishment must be to eat no more of 
the candied fruits that are left.” 

Silently Sophie kissed her mother and went 
away. She felt sure she would always prefer 
the rough road. 


151 




Happy Surprises 

“What’s the matter with your eyes?’’ asked 
Paul. “They are so very red.’’ 

“That’s because I have been crying,’’ said 
Sophie, ready to cry again. 

“What have you been crying for? Has 
Aunt Cecile been scolding you?’’ 

“No. But I was ashamed to confess what 
a wicked thing I did yesterday.’’ 

“A wicked thing! I didn’t see you do any¬ 
thing at all.’’ 

“I did it when you weren’t there. But now 
I have begun to be different, and I shall not 
hide things from you any more.’’ 

Then she told him how she had gone into 
the house and eaten the candied fruits, when 
she meant only to choose one for the next day. 

“And that’s what made the shovel so 
sticky,’’ she added. 

“How brave you were to tell Aunt Cecile 
about it,’’ said Paul admiringly. “How did 
you have the courage?’’ 

Then Sophie told her dream, and how her 
mother had explained it. And when Paul had 
listened attentively, she cried: 

“I’ve got a splendid idea! I do believe that 


152 





Candied Fruits 

if you and I talk about that dream every day, 
Paul, we shall grow up good—both of us.” 

When she was finished reading, Madame 
de Fleurville closed the portfolio. 

I think Sophie’s dream is meant for each 
of us, she said. “If we remember to follow 
where Conscience leads, we are very sure to 
be happy.” 

'They are beautiful stories, all of them!” 
cried Marguerite. 

“I just love them,” said Camilla. 

And Madeleine threw both arms about 
Sophie, and exclaimed: 

“I wish I had been there with you and Paul 
all the time, Sophie! Then I could have been 
in the stories.” 



153 






SAVAGES AHOY! 

The Biggest and Best Surprise of All! 

Several days passed, and Colonel de Traypi 
had not yet returned from Paris. 

One morning Madame de Rosbourg said, 
“I am not going out, children. But you may 
run down to the White House if you wish.” 

They all went. Marguerite sat listening to 
Leconte tell about her father, the Com¬ 
mander, while Lucie gave the others—Ca¬ 
milla, Madeleine, and Sophie—a lesson in 
making bags and baskets out of melon seeds. 


154 






Savages Ahoy 

First they were to eat the melons, then dry 
the seeds in the sunshine, and after that string 
them on bright cords. 

Frangoise fed the boys great plates full of 
galettes, round flat cakes covered with honey, 
and she gave them pocketfuls of cookies. 

“When I am a man,” said Jacques in a loud 
voice, “1 mean to stay here all the time with 
Marguerite.” 

After the jolly visit was over, the children 
were loitering towards the big house at Fleur- 
ville, gathering daisies and munching Fran- 
goise’s cookies, when Jacques shouted sud¬ 
denly: 

“There’s Father!” 

It was true. There was Colonel de Traypi, 
calling: 

“Hurry! Hurry!” 

Down the road they rushed, and tumbled 
up the terrace steps. 

“Come quickly,” said Colonel de Traypi, 
“and see what I have brought in the shape of 
good news.” 

Major de Ruges, Madame de Fleurville and 
Madame de Rosbourg were there. And be- 

155 






Happy Surprises 


side them stood a stranger, who was looking 
earnestly at the little girls. 

Which is my daughter. Marguerite?” he 
asked. 

Marguerite’s heart had already told her 
who this stranger was. She threw herself into 
her father s open arms. He was clasping her 
as though he would never let her go, when 
suddenly he set her on the ground, and ex¬ 
claimed : 

Sophie de Rean! How under the sun and 
stars did you ever come here?” 

And he caught up Sophie and held her off 
gazing at her. Then he put her down as he 
had put down Marguerite, and turning to 
Madame de Fleurville, asked: 

“Wherever did you get her? The last time 
I saw her, she was in a box on the sea, where 
the waves tossed higher than a house. My 
poor child,” and his voice was full of pity, 
“how did you get out of that sailor’s chest?” 

“I don’t know. They said Father saved 
me,” murmured Sophie. 

Here Madame de Fleurville glanced mean¬ 
ingly at Commander de Rosbourg, who un¬ 
derstood and asked no more questions. 

156 






Savages Ahoy 

“I don’t know where Paul is either,” added 
Sophie just ready to cry. 

“Well! I know!” the Commander’s voice 
was cheery and his smile bright. “He is 
upstairs this very minute unbuckling our 
trunk straps.” 

“He is in the room next to mine,” said 
Madame de Fleurville gently. 

If Sophie had been born with wings, she 
could not have flown faster. 

Then the others heard exclamations, shout¬ 
ings, laughter. And afterwards there was a 
great scurrying of feet, and Sophie sur¬ 
rounded by the excited band of children, her¬ 
self the most excited of all, drew Paul onto 
the terrace. He was a little shy at finding 
himself among so many strangers but Com¬ 
mander de Rosbourg said: 

“Come, my boy! No savages here! All 
friends and white ones at that. Here’s Mar¬ 
guerite, and here is—my faith! I don’t know 
one of them myself—so let every one kiss 
everybody to make acquaintance, and then 
find out names. It’s the best we can do.” 

Then there was a general commotion— 
laughing, kissing and shaking of hands. The 

157 








Happy Surprises 

kind, handsome face of Commander de Ros- 
bourg won all the children, and Paul was so 
tall and looked so good and clever that he 
stole their hearts. 

When there was a hush, and the Com¬ 
mander said: 

“Ladies and gentlemen, Babel means “con¬ 
fusion of tongues” and we are it! I propose 
we go in search of peace and quietness.” 

They all laughed and went into the house. 

“Now, Paul, you must be introduced,” said 
Sophie. “This is my dear Marguerite. I love 
her and so will you—And here are Camilla 
and Madeleine. They are my really truly 
sisters—This is Jacques de Traypi—he is 
gold-good—This is Jean de Ruges who is just 
like you, and this is Leon his brother.” 

Then they asked many questions, and Paul 
was ready to answer them all. He always 
called the Commander my Father, and spoke 
of him in such an affectionate way, that Mar¬ 
guerite said: 

“You love my Father so much, Mr. Paul, 
that I love you just for that!” 

“If you love me, you will say Paul, without 
the Mister.” 


158 



EVERYBODY WAS HAPPIER THAN EVER BEFORE 



159 



























































































Happy Surprises 

Surely I will. 1 shall be glad to, for I feel 
as if I had a brother. I’ve always wanted one.” 

That s good, for I know you as well as 
though I were your brother. My Father—I 
mean our Father—has talked of you every 
day. I am certain I can tell you just what you 
were like when you were a baby.” 

You 11 tell me some day, won’t you?” 

Paul laughed and promised. 

After that he and Sophie had a thousand 
things to say to each other. Before evening 
Sophie had told him all that had happened 
since the old days. 

“Now explain, Paul, how did you find us 
here at Fleurville?” 

After my Father and I escaped from the 
savages, we were rescued by a ship and safely 
reached France. My Father went directly to 
the office of the Secretary of the Navy, and 
chanced to meet Colonel de Traypi there, who 
was searching for us. We came back with 
him. But I do not understand how he knew 
about us.” 

“A man we met in the woods, told us about 
you, said Sophie, “and we hoped that you 

160 





Savages Ahoy 

had escaped from the savages as he did. That 
is why Colonel de Traypi went to Paris.” 

“Who was the man?” 

“His name is Leconte, but he says the 
sailors called him, the Norman.” 

“The Norman!” exclaimed Paul. “Oh, that 
is magnificent! We thought the savages had 
killed him. Where does he live?” 

Then Paul would have gone to him without 
waiting, but Marguerite said: 

“It’s so late and so dark. Please let’s all 
go tomorrow and tell him Father has come. 
I wonder what he’ll do!” 

As she was speaking, Madame de Fleur- 
ville came into the room with Commander de 
Rosbourg. When he heard that the Norman 
was so near, he, too, would have gone at once 
to find him. 

“There is not another such man in the 
world!” he said. “But all the same, on second 
thought, we’ll wait till to-morrow.” 

“It is long past the children’s bedtime,” 
said Madame de Fleurville, “and I am sure 
Paul is tired.” 

“Paul! Tired!” repeated the Commander. 
“Paul doesn’t know what the word means. 


161 






Happy Surprises 


He has walked and walked till he is as strong 
as a young giant. But surely the others need 
sleep. Come, my Marguerite!” 

“Good night, all!” 

The next day was an exciting one for the 
children. Paul was shown everything, the big 
house, the park, the gardens, the summer¬ 
houses, and the farm. Last and best of all 
they went together to the White House. 

When the Norman saw his Commander 
walk in, he staggered and would have fallen. 
For the first time in his life, he could not 
speak. 

Then when Commander de Rosbourg met 
him like a long lost friend, and promised that 
they should never separate again, there was 
nothing left in life for Leconte to desire. 

“Now,” said Commander de Rosbourg to 
the children after they had reached Fleurville, 

I have a last Surprise for you! 

I am not going to sea again, but shall al¬ 
ways stay with those I love. They are too 
precious to leave. 

“This is the Surprise—I have bought land 
next to Madame de Fleurville’s, and there I 
shall build my home—and—and—” 


162 





Savages Ahoy 

Here he stopped and looked at the children, 
who were listening eagerly. 

“And—and—you three boys will spend 
your vacations with us—Paul and Marguerite 
need never be separated—and our nearest 
neighbors will be these three young ladies of 
Fleurville, Camilla, Madeleine, and Sophie. 
All who like this, clap their hands!” 

Never before or after was there such a 
celebration in Fleurville. 

When order was restored, Camilla said: 

“Ever since the day Marguerite came, we 
have had Surprise after Surprise. Such happy 
ones! But this is truly the happiest of all!” 



163 























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